Domoni: The far-off French island of Mayotte casts a perilous spell over Anjouan, which is a part of the Comoros archipelago in the southern Indian Ocean.
Thousands of poor Comorans risk their lives every year trying to reach Mayotte, an eldorado with schools, hospitals, roads, and a social safety net. Domoni, the second-largest town in Anjouan, is frequently the point of departure for refugees seeking a better life.
Many of its 17,000 inhabitants make a living from small-scale fishing, but some also supplement their incomes by working as human smugglers, which is a lucrative industry. Men converse while playing the traditional board game bao while seated beneath almond trees.
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The resin used to construct and maintain kwassa kwassa, or timber boats, can be smelled in the air close to the beach.The 900,000 people who call Comoros home make up nearly half of the population, and the average monthly income barely exceeds the equivalent of $110. Many people lack access to medical care.
People trying to reach Mayotte, which is 70 kilometres away at its closest point, must brave choppy waters while crammed into rickety, crowded boats. Unknown numbers have perished over time, and the welcome on Mayotte is becoming more hostile for those who do make it there. France has intensified its efforts to combat illegal immigration, which is held responsible in Mayotte for the spread of slums and deteriorating security.
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Undocumented migrants, the majority of whom are Comorans, are being expelled as part of a contentious operation dubbed "Wuambushu" (take back, in the local language). The Comoros government is opposing the operation because it says it cannot handle the influx of deportees from Mayotte and will not accept them.
A 27-year-old man who asked to be called Abdou Ahmadi revealed that he was a "fisherman-smuggler," earning a living both from his nets and from transporting people to Mayotte, while sitting on a beach covered in trash."I transport up to eight people in a month, but only sick people," he claimed. He claimed that a one-way trip cost the equivalent of $100 ($110).
"When I'm not seeing patients, I'm out fishing. However, he acknowledged that fishing is not enough to support a family. Ahmadi disapproved of the notion of leaving Domoni and residing as "an undocumented migrant." I would rather stay here, he said.
"Mayotte is in a terrible situation, and crime is rampant. I have no temptation.An ex-smuggler identified only as Soula claimed he gave up the trade after receiving a three-year prison sentence and now works as a taxi driver. I had a thorough understanding of the sea. However, fishing was not very lucrative. So I started smuggling," he declared. He aided in the crossing of some Madagascar-born individuals.
"No one I know has ever been lost at sea. But I was arrested," he said as he sat on the boat's red hull.52-year-old Rafouzoiti Dhoimir claimed she had made three attempts to enter Mayotte but had been turned away each time.She hasn't seen her three children in 15 years; they live there.
She prayed to God, "I pray that (Wuambushu) is stopped," as she considered her kids, who lived in shacks. She was sitting on an armchair in her small house across from the beach, trembling, wearing a navy and orange dress. She said, "I don't sleep any more; I'm afraid. She was too scared to attempt a different crossing. "There have been so many deaths," she remarked. She hoped "one day they won't expel anyone, and we stop going there."