'What have we done to deserve this?' The suffering caused by France's deportations from Mayotte
Nadia was born in the French overseas département of Mayotte in the Indian Ocean and is the mother of six French children. Recently she was separated from those children after being abruptly deported to the neighbouring country of Comoros, despise the fact that her expulsion order was riddled with errors. Hers is but one of many such cases as France continues to carry out mass indiscriminate deportations from Mayotte, employing hasty and often irregular procedures. In doing so the French authorities are ignoring repeated warnings, including from the Council of Europe. Grégoire Mérot reports from Mayotte's capital Mamoudzou.
“The“The instant I open my eyes, it’s awful. I remember that I’m not at home, that I’m not with my children when they need me.” On the phone from Anjouan in Comoros, 'Nadia' – not her real name - apologises for not being able to hold back the tears. “I'm just so tired, so sad, they’re without their mother, they couldn’t even start the new school year,” she continues, referring to her six children, aged between two and ten.
