Cyclone-hit Mayotte shows France’s bigger overseas crisis

The dramatic consequences of cyclone Chido’s on Mayotte have brought France’s overseas territories back to the forefront of political discourse as the EU begins to recognise the strategic value of these regions.

Mayotte is a French overseas region located off the coast of southeastern Africa, close to Madagascar. On 14 December, cyclone Chido struck the island, claiming at least 39 lives and injuring over 4,000 people.

In response, French Minister for Overseas Territories Manuel Valls outlined on 8 January an emergency bill to rebuild Mayotte's infrastructure swiftly, proposing adjustments to urban planning regulations and fiscal measures to support the local population.

While Valls did not offer a clear cost estimate, he suggested a range of €1 to €3 billion. To cover these expenses, EU funds can be used as Mayotte was granted the status of an EU outermost region (RUP) in 2014. This status provides fiscal and trade advantages and eligibility for increased cohesion policy funding.

The new RESTORE regulation (Regional Emergency Support for Reconstruction), approved by the European Parliament on 17 December 2024, can also help. RESTORE allows up to 10% of national allocations from cohesion policy funds for the 2021–2027 term to be used in response to natural disasters.

“The EU’s financial effort is significant but should not compensate for France’s shortcomings,” said European Parliament Vice-President Younous Omarjee (The Left), who hails from Réunion – another French overseas territory eastward Madagascar.

“The state tends to use European funds to shirk its responsibilities.”

Migration

Appointed just before the cyclone, French Prime Minister François Bayrou is facing his first political test in handling the archipelago crisis. The emergency bill is expected to pass although it will be presented to a deeply divided National Assembly on 20 January.

The government also plans to introduce another law on security, immigration, and economic development within the next three months. 

Action on irregular migration is especially important for the far-right Rassemblement National (RN), whose leader, Marine Le Pen, secured 59.1% of the vote on the island during the second round of the last presidential election.

INSEE reports that the archipelago has 321,000 inhabitants, but local officials estimate an additional 100,000 to 200,000 people, including many undocumented migrants living in cyclone-destroyed slums, may also reside there.

"We are waiting for concrete action on immigration,” warned Rassemblement National (RN) MEP André Rougé, who accompanied Marine Le Pen on a visit to the archipelago this week.

“France must pressure [the eastern African] Comoros authorities to prevent their citizens from migrating illegally to Mayotte.”

This situation has also reignited the debate over abolishing birthright citizenship, a contentious issue in mainland France.

In a column published in Le Figaro, Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau, Valls, and Armed Forces Minister Sébastien Lecornu called for a “change in the rules” on 5 January, arguing that existing measures “are no longer sufficient.”

At the EU level, Omarjee agrees that ignoring the role of immigration in the breakdown of Mayotte's society is "a total lack of lucidity," but cautions against further deepening internal divisions at this critical moment.

Island diplomacy

French overseas territories seem to be back on the French and EU agenda following significant developments over the past year, including social unrest and violence in New Caedonia, east of Australia, and ongoing demonstrations against the high cost of living in the French West Indies. 

For the first time, Bayrou has also appointed his minister for overseas France with the title of minister of state.

“This shift acknowledges the critical gravity of the circumstances in many French overseas departments and territories,” explains Céline Pajon, an Indo-Pacific specialist at the French Institute of International Relations (IFRI).

“High living costs, low income levels, extreme economic and social inequalities, climate vulnerability, migration issues, and unresolved decolonisation processes generate significant tensions that challenge the legitimacy of ties with mainland France.”

Through its overseas territories, France controls and monitors a 10.2 million km² maritime domain – the world’s second-largest after the US. This allows the EU to influence regions like the Pacific, particularly around French Polynesia, as these territories serve as “European values outposts in the region,” says Pajon.

While the ‘European Pact for the Oceans’ sought by the Commission PResident Ursula von Der Leyen is set to be presented by June 2025, she also made it a priority to meet with the Alliance of Small Island States for the first time during the UN General Assembly in September 2024.

“I have also asked European Parliament President Roberta Metsola to establish a delegation for small island developing states to enhance dialogue with these nations,” adds Omarjee.

“China and the US rely on small island states to strengthen their strategic positions. The EU must also develop an effective island diplomacy.”

[Edited by Martina Monti]