Africa-Press – Rwanda. French Prime Minister Sebastian Lecornu announced that France intends to link its official development aid to seven African countries with their cooperation in combating illegal migration to Mayotte Island during a two-day visit to the archipelago in the Indian Ocean.
The seven countries targeted by the new system include Comoros, Burundi, Tanzania, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Rwanda, Somalia, and Kenya.
The measure aims to make part of French development aid contingent on progress in migration issues, particularly in combating human trafficking, issuing necessary consular permits, and facilitating the return of illegal migrants to their home countries.
Lecornu requested the French Foreign Ministry to prepare proposals to implement this system as soon as possible in 2026, with a more regular and systematic approach starting in 2027.
At the same time, the Prime Minister confirmed that direct humanitarian aid would not be included in this linkage, attempting to separate aid directed at urgent humanitarian needs from development aid that will be subject to the new criteria. Lecornu stated, “It is right to provide more to a country that makes efforts to meet our expectations regarding migration.”
The announcement sparked mixed reactions within the French political arena, with the far-right considering it insufficient, while the left described it as a form of “blackmail.”
Deputy Estelle Youssoufa, representing Mayotte, condemned what she termed “political manipulation,” pledging to vote again for a vote of no confidence against the government. She pointed out that linking aid to migration conditions already exists in the “2019 agreements with Comoros,” which is the primary country of origin for migrants heading to Mayotte.
Youssoufa expressed regret over the government’s failure to respond to the demands of elected officials in Mayotte to dismantle the Tsoundzao 2 camp, where over a thousand asylum seekers live in what she described as miserable conditions.
This escalation comes as the issue of illegal migration to Mayotte has returned strongly to the French political debate, with presidential elections approaching, as it has become one of the main sources of public anger on the island in recent years. The Prime Minister had proposed several measures to address the situation last week, including halting the registration of asylum applications in Mayotte.
In the “France Insoumise” party, Deputy Thomas Port accused Sebastian Lecornu of adopting far-right rhetoric, criticizing the linkage of development aid to migration issues.
Port stated, “Blackmailing people with the threat of withholding development aid is completely unacceptable,” arguing that those arriving in Mayotte or France are fleeing “poverty,” “hunger,” and “wars,” in addition to “climate crises that are expected to worsen.”
He added that this approach would not solve the problem, instead calling for a “welcoming policy” and a “diplomatic approach” to dealing with migration issues.
Conversely, the far-right criticized the measure from a different angle, arguing that it does not go far enough.
Sarah Knafo, a Member of the European Parliament from the “Reconquête” group, stated, “It is no longer about making general development aid conditional but about completely abolishing it.” She added, “This is our people’s money, the money of the French people, and there is already a shortage.”
Non-governmental organizations have also raised concerns about using development aid to achieve political goals related to migration.
Matthieu Paris, advocacy officer at the NGO CCFD-Terre Solidaire, stated that the announcement was not surprising, noting that French development aid has increasingly shifted towards a logic of quid pro quo over the past three years.
He added that aid has increasingly been used based on the principle of “exchange,” similar to what happens in the United States. Paris believes this trend harms the countries benefiting from official development aid, as this aid should be a tool for international solidarity, not a means to serve internal political calculations in France.
He warned that linking aid to these considerations would reduce its effectiveness and would not help the beneficiary countries achieve self-sufficiency and sustainable development.
For his part, Alain Anick, advocacy officer at the NGO Solidarités International, ruled out that the French announcement would have a tangible impact on combating illegal migration. He stated that he had not noticed any change in the number of people leaving for France based on increases or decreases in development aid.
He added that the real goal of the measure, in his view, is to use official development aid “as a diplomatic weapon.” The French decision places the migration issue in Mayotte at the heart of foreign and development policy towards several African countries, as Paris seeks to increase cooperation with the governments of these countries to curb migration flows while facing increasing political pressure from the right and far-right regarding migration and asylum policies.
