While the world is transfixed on the migration crisis in the Mediterranean, something similar is currently happening in the Indian oceanWhen Comoros gained independence in 1975, the Comorans could move freely in between the archipelago, which was comprised of the Nzwani (Fr. Anjouan), Ngazidja (Grande Comore), Maore (Mayotte), and Mwali (Mohéli) islands.
However, in 1995, France introduced a visa requirement, the so-called Visa Balladur, named after the prime minister at the time, for the three other islands to Mayotte. The legislation disrupted existing local mobilities between the islands, because normal internal movement (given the links among the people of the archipelago anchored in historic, cultural, and religious ties) was considered 'illegal' by French authorities.
Death visa
Since then, the inhabitants have employed very risky migration tactics across the 70-kilometer (43-mile) stretch between Mayotte and the archipelago. The immigrants travel in fast flat-bottomed fishing boats equipped with two engines locally known as the "Kwassa kwassa" boats, which means "an unstable boat" in the local language, because they often capsize. Consequently, the number of deaths and/or missing persons has increased since the introduction of the Balladur Visa.
According to the French senate report, between 1995 and 2012, it is estimated that approximately 10,000 Comorans died on the crossing to Mayotte from the Comoros Islands. However, the governor of Anjouan, Anissi Chamsidine, in May 2015 claimed that more than 50,000 had drowned since 1995. Consequently, he calls the 70 kilometers between Mayotte and the rest of the archipelago "the largest marine cemetery in the world." Visa Balladur is now commonly referred to as "Visa de la mort" ('death visa') for inhabitants of the other three islands.
Comment: France is still very much attached to its colonies and as always it is about resources and power projection. In Africa some countries have started to kick France out of their former colonies much to the chagrin of the ruling French elite.
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