With our correspondent in Moroni, Anziza M'Changama

They are French and reside in Mayotte. Having come on holiday to the islands of Grande Comore and Anjouan, they can no longer return home because of measures concerning air transport.

The French Embassy in Moroni must provide assistance to its stranded nationals, which has been done since an agreement was quickly found with Comorian authorities to allow this contingent of fifty people to depart for Mayotte.

But French civil aviation needs authorization from the Mayotte prefect to open the airspace to their aircraft. However, this authorization is slow in coming. President Macron had announced that French nationals wishing to be repatriated would be.

The Mayotte prefect is dragging its feet, arguing that these travelers, being with their families in the Comoros, can wait there for the lifting of lockdown restrictions or travel via Paris to rejoin their island. The French Ministry of Overseas, also present in the discussions, could help move the situation forward.