Dozens of Comorian athletes have been in the wild since their arrival in Reunion more than three weeks ago. Came to participate in a handball tournament, they fled. A call is made for them to come forward to the authorities.
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This Friday, July 22, several members of the Comorian diaspora gathered to call on young athletes to return to their country.
Lawyer Said Larifou launches an appeal “to the responsibility“. He asks the young Comorian athletes fleeing in Reunion to come forward to the authorities. “It is an appeal that I make to my young compatriots to help them return to the country”he explains.
Look at the details of Réunion La 1ère:
Comorian athletes: an NGO calls for accountability
During the Indian Ocean Handball Champions Cup last June, around fifty Comorian athletes traveled to Reunion. The delegation arrived at Roland Garros airport on June 29 and the athletes had a visa until July 12.
Since then, their visa has expired. They are in an irregular situation in the department and the case is causing a stir in the Comoros.
Under the threat of deportation, ending the flight is the most reasonable option according to the lawyer, Said Larifou.
Some of the players would not have participated in the competition and would have taken to their heels as soon as they got off the plane. The athletes had agreed by mail to return to Moroni at the end of the tournament.
“We must meet them, help them, make them understand that in Reunion, there is a social and cultural balance, which must not be called into question, just like the integration of the Comorians who are legally established here because it could also backfire on them.” says Said Larifou.
According to him, these young people fled their country to “to flee the dictatorial regime of President Azali Assoumani”.
Still according to Said Larifou, “most athletes would have gone back to the archipelago, and only a minority would still be on the island”.