France targets Democratic Republic of Congo over rising migration to Mayotte
The Democratic Republic of Congo has emerged as the primary focus of French efforts to control irregular migration to Mayotte, following sharp criticism from Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu during his visit to the French overseas territory on August 26, 2026. The government is now considering targeting Kinshasa with a bonus-malus system for development aid to pressure the country into better controlling departures and accepting the return of its undocumented nationals.
The move reflects a profound transformation in migration patterns to Mayotte. In 2025, Congolese nationals accounted for 50% of asylum seekers in the territory, while Comorians represented just 13%. This marks a complete reversal from 2022, when 51% of asylum seekers were Comorian and only 16% Congolese. The shift has accelerated through 2024, when 52% of first-time asylum seekers originated from the DRC, followed by Comoros at 25%, Somalia at 15%, Madagascar at 3%, and Burundi at 2%.
Between July and December 2025 alone, approximately 13,914 migrants attempted the crossing to Mayotte, according to the International Organization for Migration's first tracking report on this migration route. The numbers underscore what Lecornu described as a
new flow coming from several countries in the Great Lakes region of Africadriven by
geopolitical reasons linked to wars and climate-related events.
Pressure on readmission cooperation
Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez expressed French frustration with the current state of cooperation, stating that he
expects [the Congolese authorities] to better implement the readmission agreement [for their undocumented nationals, signed in April 2021] than they are currently doing.The criticism comes as France conducted more than 23,000 deportations from Mayotte in 2025, exceeding the total number of deportations from all other French departments combined.
A diplomat from the French embassy in Tanzania had already identified the emerging pattern during a May 2024 Senate hearing, reporting a
shift (...) from Madagascar toward transit routes to Mayotte via Tanzaniaas early as 2021. Tanzania has since emerged as a primary transit hub for migrants traveling along the Western Indian Ocean Route toward Mayotte, with smuggling networks recruiting Congolese and Burundians there.
Root causes in the Great Lakes region
The exodus from the DRC reflects broader instability in Central Africa's Great Lakes region. As of February 2025, over 6.9 million people were internally displaced within the DRC, making it one of the largest internally displaced populations globally. Armed conflict has particularly affected eastern DRC since 2021, when the AFC/M23 armed group, backed by Rwanda, began seizing large swaths of territory.
The Great Lakes region as a whole hosts over 4 million refugees and asylum seekers, with continued high levels of forced displacement affecting the DRC, Burundi, Rwanda, and surrounding countries. This regional crisis has fundamentally altered migration dynamics to Mayotte, which historically received irregular arrivals primarily from the nearby Comoros islands.
Mayotte's migration challenge
The French overseas territory faces unique geographic vulnerabilities. Mayotte is separated from the Comorian island of Anjouan by only 70 kilometers of sea, a crossing that thousands attempt annually on small wooden boats called kwassa-kwassa. According to French statistical institute INSEE, 48% of Mayotte's population is of foreign nationality, with 95% of these foreigners being Comorian. Approximately half of the territory's total population is in an irregular situation.
The demographic reality has made migration control a central political issue for French authorities. Lecornu emphasized during his visit that
for years, migration flows only came from the Comoros; now, for geopolitical reasons linked to wars and climate-related events, we have to deal with a new flow coming from several countries in the Great Lakes region of Africa.
The proposed bonus-malus system for development aid would represent a significant escalation in French diplomatic pressure on source countries, particularly the DRC, to cooperate on migration control and readmission of their nationals from Mayotte.
