The destruction caused by Cyclone Chido is evident across Mayotte, a French territory in the Indian Ocean, but in the hardest-hit hillside shantytowns, residents say French officials are nowhere to be found.
On Wednesday, the sounds of hammers and saws echoed through the neighborhoods as people scrambled to rebuild their makeshift homes ahead of the next seasonal rains.
The cyclone, the strongest in 90 years, devastated entire areas of Mayotte. With more than 75% of its estimated 321,000 people already living below France’s national poverty line, many are struggling to recover. While the official death toll stands at 31, authorities fear the real number could be much higher, and an estimated 100,000 people are now homeless.
As President Emmanuel Macron prepares to visit the territory on Thursday, residents in Mayotte’s shantytowns, many of them undocumented migrants from Comoros and Madagascar, voiced frustration over the lack of government support. “We haven’t seen anyone from the state here,” said El-Yassine Ibrahim, a former social worker from Doujani, a neighborhood south of the capital Mamoudzou. “They are certainly busy with other things.”
Mayotte’s many shantytowns, home to around 100,000 undocumented migrants, are historically neglected by the French state. The poorly constructed slums, devastated by the storm, have long been plagued by extreme poverty and insecurity. “The police never come here,” said Saida Saindzou, a young woman from Bonovo, another impoverished neighborhood.
During a four-hour visit to Doujani and Bonovo, near Mamoudzou, Reuters journalists saw no police, military personnel, or other French officials. A spokesperson for Mayotte’s prefecture had no information on the situation in these areas and declined to comment on the deployment of state or military forces. The French government has announced plans to send 1,800 police and 1,600 military personnel to the territory.
Meanwhile, 16-year-old Abdu Youssef Ahamada from Bonovo stood in front of the debris that was once his home. He, too, reported no presence of authorities, even during the storm when “gangsters” were reportedly roaming the streets. “They sent us a text message telling us to take cover,” he said. “So I got under the bed with my siblings. When we rose again three hours later, the house was gone.”
While no one in their community died, locals noted the complete destruction of the hillsides that once housed hundreds of immigrant families. Many of these families are now homeless, with some sheltering with neighbors.
“The trees served to hide the misery,” said local resident Fahar Aboudhamir. “With the trees gone, people now see Mayotte’s suffering.”