Mamoudzou, France, Nov 23 (AFP/APP):On the French Indian Ocean territory of Mayotte, clashes between machete-wielding gangs have left at least one dead, highlighting chronic crime problems that have rung alarm bells in Paris.
In the densely populated main city of Mamoudzou, street battles have struck fear into residents and led the mainland government to send a contingent of elite anti-terror police on Tuesday to help restore order.
A 20-year-old was stabbed to death on November 12 in the northern slum-fringed suburb of Kaweni, and a school bus was attacked in the same area last week.
In the southern district of Mtsapere, lines of burned-out cars point to reprisals, with gangs of several hundred men and boys, some as young as 12, responsible for the daily unrest that includes roadblocks and attacks on motorists.
“What additional act of barbarism do we need so that the republic reacts?” local MP Estelle Youssouffa asked in the national assembly on Tuesday, imploring the government to tackle the unrest.
The outbreak of violence underscores declining living standards in Mayotte and has brought to the fore longstanding accusations of neglect by the Paris government, which are often heard in other overseas French territories in the Caribbean and Pacific.
Mayotte was paralysed for six weeks by strikes and blockades in 2018, and the French Caribbean islands of Martinique and Guadeloupe both erupted in violent protests last year.
“Now it’s on the front pages but our paradise has been a hell for some years now,” Youssouffa, a former journalist and community organiser, told France 24 television on Wednesday.
Administered as a fully fledged French “departement”, Mayotte has an unemployment level of 30 percent and by far the country’s lowest per capita annual income — around 3,000 euros ($3,100) compared with a national average of nearly 22,000 euros.
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