By Tasilo Hummel
MAMOUDZOU (Reuters) – French President Emmanuel Macron was due to visit the mansions of Cyclone Chido-ravaged Mayotte on Friday, the second day of a visit where he faced calls to speed up aid to the Indian Ocean archipelago.
French officials could only confirm 31 deaths more than six days after the cyclone, the strongest to hit Mayotte in 90 years, but some said they feared thousands more had died.
Some of the worst-hit areas of the islands, hillside shanties made up of crude shacks populated mostly by undocumented migrants, have yet to be reached by rescuers.
Macron decided to extend his stay and spend the night in Mayotte after the residents asked him to do so.
“I think it’s a sign of respect and attention, which is important to me and which allows me to see what the population is going through,” he told reporters late Thursday.
On the first day of his visit, Macron faced criticism and boos from some Mayotte residents over what they called his government’s sluggish response to the cyclone.
Macron said the government was rapidly ramping up support and called for unity. In a heated exchange with the jeering crowd in the evening, he defended the government for neglecting Mayotte.
“You’re lucky to be in France. If it weren’t for France, you’d be 10,000 times worse off,” he said verbatim.
Aboubacar Ahamada Mlachahi was one of many people who fought to protect basic needs.
“First of all, there is water for children. Before fixing houses, fixing anything, daily life… we need water,” he told Reuters.
The 34-year-old construction worker, originally from Comoros, said his house had been destroyed by the cyclone and was now sitting on a hill at the cargo port of Longon, Mayotte.
“Everything is gone,” he said.
Undocumented migrants
Authorities warned it would be difficult to determine the exact death toll in the area, which is home to large numbers of undocumented migrants from the Comoros, Madagascar and other countries. Official statistics put Mayotte’s population at 321,000, but many say it’s much higher.
Some victims were immediately buried, in accordance with Muslim tradition, before their deaths were counted.
Three out of four people live below the national poverty line in Mayotte, which is heavily dependent on French aid.
Chido also killed at least 73 people in Mozambique and 13 in Malawi after making landfall on the African continent, according to officials in those countries.