Comoros – Meeting between Jean-Yves Le Drian and his Comoros counterpart Mohamed El-Amine Souef (23 August 2018)
The minister for Europe and foreign affairs received his Comoros counterpart, Mohamed El-Amine Souef, Minister of Foreign Affairs, International Cooperation and Francophonie, in charge of Comorians abroad, on August 23.
The situation brought about on March 21 by the Comoros decision to no longer admit its nationals who have entered Mayotte illegally was the focus of the discussions aimed at making progress toward a lasting resolution between our two countries that will take into account the human impact on the population and security considerations in the department of Mayotte.
The strengthening of efforts to combat the networks of traffickers of human beings was also addressed. In this respect, the minister for Europe and foreign affairs took careful note of the decision published on July 31 by the Comoros Ministry for Transport prohibiting the use of unsuitable vessels to transport passengers and expressed our willingness to support its full implementation in order to strengthen the security of both our countries and our nationals. He reaffirmed our willingness to increase support for the coastguard and other Comoran forces involved in monitoring these irregular departures.
The prospects for renewed cooperation, focusing primarily on development activities to benefit young Comorans, as well on internal security, should help resolve the issue of the illegal movement of people between the Union of the Comoros and Mayotte.
The two ministers agreed to continue their dialogue over the coming weeks.