Trouble is a-brewing
27 Mar 2008 02:35 pm![[profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
The Anjounais in Mayotte are not happy about what they perceive as France siding with this dictator. So, today in Mamoudzou on Grande Terre, several mouzoungous were attacked; cars and scooters have been incinerated. Schools were shut down and an advisory warning was issued for everyone (specifically those of European descent) to remain at home.
I'm not a doomsayer, and I'm not particularly worried at this point, but already several teachers are predicting civil war. I'm just dumbfounded to think about how this one incident could serve as a bascule, changing the situation here from stability and complacency into warring and strife.
The triangle of Mayotte, the Comoros, and France is charged with history and you'll get a different story according to who you talk to or the articles your googling pulls up. But living here and talking with the natives and different nationalities, I've seen a more complex side to it that does *not* hinge on French colonialism as some would have the masses think. I may post about it someday.
ETA: There have also been burglaries on GT, and the Gendarmes (a division of French police associated with the military) are out of crowd-controlling ammo (like tear gas, etc), so reinforcements of material and personnel are being flown over from Réunion Island. Here in our town of Pamandzi, a police car was attacked with rocks and Molotov cocktails, probably by young people out looking for trouble rather than desirous of making a political statement.