why justice has given reason to the inhabitants of the shantytown which was to be destroyed this morning

The judicial court of Mamoudzou, in Mayotte, suspended the operation of destruction and eviction of the slum Talus 2 located in the district of Majicavo, in the commune of Koungou, which was to take place Tuesday April 25 in the morning at 5 a.m., Paris time. In the court decision, which franceinfo obtained, the judge in chambers considers that the destruction of homes is “obviously irregular” and that she “jeopardizes security” slum dwellers. It therefore asks the prefecture to put in place two measures, suitable rehousing for each family as well as the possibility of storing their belongings in a protected place.

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“A victory for the inhabitants”, epilogue of several months of legal battle

Last February, the administrative court ruled in favor of around twenty inhabitants of this slum who contested the order for the destruction of their homes, published on December 2. The court urgently seized on Monday extended this decision to the entire slum, nearly a hundred families living in precarious housing. “It is an extraordinary moment of justice”, reacts Master Flor Tercero, representative of one of the families. According to his explanations, the huts in jail being nested with each other, the justice considered that it was not possible to spare the dwellings of the 20 families by destroying all the other adjoining dwellings. She evokes a “victory for the people” Who “remember that even if we live in a slum we have rights and dignity”.

Appeal in progress and relocations under study

The prefect of Mayotte, Thierry Suquet, indicates on franceinfo to have “noted the judicial decision”. He asked state attorneys to appeal the decision. The prefect believes that “endangerment today” is not on the side of “the operation carried out by the prefecture and prepared for several months” but in fact “to let people live in undignified conditions”. However, Thierry Suquet recognizes that this legal decision obliges him to look “the relocation proposals that have been made”. He maintains that on this slum “more than 45 families and 100 people have been relocated”either “more than 50%” of the people present on site”. The prefect also promises that state services will continue “to relocate people”. He assures that “for each person, for each family” who has “vocation to stay on the territory”a relocation proposal is made and he intends to demonstrate this “on appeal”.

A setback for the state

The prefecture speaks of a “misunderstanding” but for opponents of Operation Wuambushu, launched to stem crime and illegal immigration on the island, it is above all a first legal setback. Monday, Thierry Suquet assured the press that France “won’t stop” this operation. The prefecture had made an appointment with the media at 5 a.m., Paris time to witness the destruction of the Talus 2 slum, which was to be the first of this major operation. Another blow after the decision of the Comoros not to allow a boat of Comorian migrants expelled from Mayotte to dock in its port. They had to return to the administrative detention center of the 101st French department.