Fifty years ago, in December 1976, the Belgian airline Sabena chartered Boeing 737s to evacuate Comorian migrants, who were facing xenophobic violence in Majunga, back to their home archipelago.
The significant figure of 15,000 people can be explained by the long-standing historical proximity of this northwestern port in Madagascar to the ‘people from overseas,’ the Antalaotra, who arrived primarily from East Africa or transited through the Comoros.
Following the annexation of Madagascar into the French Ministry of Colonies, the colonial administration created a single jurisdiction of ‘Madagascar and Dependencies’ (1914-1947), which administratively linked the Comoros to Madagascar. This led to the exile of suspects from the ‘Vy Vato Sakelika’ affair to Dzaoudzi in 1916, including the poet Ny Avana Ramanantoanina.
The term ‘botry,’ used by the poet to describe a stunted life, is also the homonym for the Arab-style dhows that connected the islands, Nosy-Be, Zanzibar, and the Comoros. In the late 1970s, the group ‘Lôlô sy ny tariny’ popularized a song mocking Comorians arriving on these dhows in Majunga in search of a better life.
Since July 21, 2026, a Comorian law has reserved certain small businesses for native-born Comorians. Currently, about 20,000 Malagasy live in the Comoros. While both countries struggle to join the circle of emerging nations, 45% of Comorians live below the poverty line, compared to 75% of Malagasy.
Forty years after the song ‘Lekaoma,’ the dhows are clearly sailing in the opposite direction. Reports indicate that while Malagasy immigrants in the Comoros were once professionals, many are now street vendors or hairdressers. This catastrophic regression is a betrayal by the successive leaders who have claimed to govern Madagascar.
Captured & Published at: 2026-10-10 05:39:28 (Madagascar Local Time EAT)
Original Source: https://www.lexpress.mg/2026/10/madagascar-le-boutre-les-comores.html