A new diplomatic standoff is taking shape between Paris and Moroni. During a visit to Mayotte on Wednesday, August 26, 2026, French Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu announced a « bonus-malus » mechanism designed to tie part of France’s official development assistance to the cooperation of seven African countries on migration issues. The countries concerned are the Comoros, Burundi, Tanzania, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Rwanda, Somalia and Kenya.
According to the head of government’s announcement, aid levels could now vary based on several specific criteria: how vigorously each country fights smuggling networks, whether it actually issues consular travel documents, and whether it agrees to take back its nationals who are in an irregular situation. Lecornu defended the approach by arguing it was only fair to give more to a country that makes a genuine effort to meet France’s expectations on migration. He was careful to stress, however, that direct humanitarian aid to populations, including in war zones, would not be affected by the new mechanism.
The sums involved are far from negligible. In 2024, roughly 300 million euros in official development assistance went to the Comoros and to six countries in the Great Lakes region now covered by this new policy. The Foreign Ministry has been tasked with drawing up concrete proposals for a first phase of implementation as early as 2026, ahead of a more structural rollout starting in 2027.
The announcement comes as migratory pressure on the Mahoran archipelago remains high. According to Mayotte’s prefect, Frédéric Poisot, 16,500 removals have already been recorded since the start of 2026. While migrants still come mainly from the neighboring Comoros, authorities are also noting a rise in arrivals from the Great Lakes region, particularly from the Democratic Republic of Congo, Rwanda and Burundi.
On the Comorian side, the reaction was swift. Local media denounced what they see as disproportionate pressure and an implicit challenge to the legitimacy of Comorians living on the archipelago. According to Comores Infos, while the fight against smuggling networks remains a shared necessity, it cannot justify portraying Comorians as foreigners threatening land that Moroni considers fully part of its history and national territory. The outlet reiterated the official Comorian position that Mayotte remains a Comorian island for all Comorians, a conviction Moroni says is reinforced by several historic United Nations General Assembly resolutions.
Beyond the financial dimension, the strengthening of security measures is also fueling concern in Moroni. Comorian media point to what they describe as a genuine militarization of the Mahoran archipelago, evidenced by the deployment of drones and tethered balloons, the setup of maritime interception systems, and the stationing of a French Foreign Legion detachment at M’tsamboro. This is seen as a worrying hardening of France’s stance, running counter to what Moroni is calling for: dialogue between equals, shared development, and recognition of the territorial dispute that has divided the two countries since Comorian independence in 1975, the year Mayotte chose to remain French.
This latest episode is thus part of a long-standing, unresolved dispute between Paris and Moroni, where the migration issue is once again layering onto a sovereignty disagreement more than fifty years old, with neither side currently showing signs of willingness to shift its position.