France intends to strengthen the conditionality of its official development assistance to several African countries to secure better cooperation in combating illegal immigration to Mayotte. The announcement was made on Wednesday in Dzaoudzi by French Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu during a two-day visit to the archipelago. Comoros, Burundi, Tanzania, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Rwanda, Somalia, and Kenya are affected by this new mechanism, which will introduce ‘bonus-malus’ criteria linked to their migration cooperation with France.
‘We are going to create some new bonus-malus criteria,’ particularly regarding ‘the ability to collaborate effectively in the fight against smugglers, the issuance of consular passes,’ and ‘the capacity to take back irregular migrants,’ declared Sébastien Lecornu at the Dzaoudzi naval base. He has tasked the Ministry of Foreign Affairs with formulating proposals for initial implementation by 2026, followed by a more structural application starting in 2027.
In 2024, official development assistance to these countries reached approximately 300 million euros, according to figures provided by the French government. However, Sébastien Lecornu clarified that humanitarian aid directly intended for populations would not be affected by this change. ‘Everything that is direct humanitarian aid to populations, including in war zones, will not be called into question,’ he assured.
The French head of government justifies this approach by the desire to better account for the cooperation of beneficiary countries in managing migratory flows. ‘It is normal to give more to a country that makes an effort to meet our expectations regarding migration,’ he stated.
The migration issue is one of the main sources of tension in Mayotte, a French department in the Indian Ocean located near the Comoros. The archipelago had 323,000 inhabitants as of January 1, 2026, according to INSEE. A significant portion of its population is foreign, with arrivals coming mainly from the Comoros, but increasingly from the Great Lakes region, particularly the DRC, Rwanda, and Burundi.
Sébastien Lecornu also announced the strengthening of surveillance and interception capabilities around Mayotte. France plans to make greater use of drones and tethered balloons to monitor maritime approaches. Furthermore, the number of interceptor vessels is set to increase from nine in 2026 to thirteen in 2028, according to the Prime Minister’s announcements.
Captured & Published at: 2026-08-27 11:53:38 (Madagascar Local Time EAT)
Original Source: https://2424.mg/migration-la-france-veut-conditionner-son-aide-au-developpement-pour-quelques-pays-africains-afin-de-freiner-les-arrivees-clandestines-a-mayotte/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=migration-la-france-veut-conditionner-son-aide-au-developpement-pour-quelques-pays-africains-afin-de-freiner-les-arrivees-clandestines-a-mayotte