Thirty-four dead, twenty-three survivors, this is the final assessment of the shipwreck which occurred on March 11, 2023, a few kilometers from the archipelago of Nosy Be, in the northwest of the Big Island. On board the makeshift boat, about sixty Malagasy passengers who were trying to reach Mayotte clandestinely.
A week ago, the Malagasy gendarmerie issued two wanted notices against a man and a woman, both from the region. They are suspected of being the smugglers and wanted “for the manslaughter of passengers to Mayotte”. In Madagascar, these maritime tragedies are recurrent. However, various programs are underway to limit this type of disaster.
Ten days after the tragedy, several questions are still waiting to be answered. How did the smugglers recruit the candidates for immigration? Where did they get them from? Did they benefit from the help of some authorities?
This accident, recognizes Jean-Edmond Randrianantenaina, the director general of the Port, Maritime, and Fluvial Agency (APMF), once again demonstrates the flaws in the surveillance system of the 5,000 km of the coast of the island. “What is important in this kind of event is above all to see if we have had enough information to be able to prevent or prohibit this kind of action. And the answer, at the moment, is that there has not been enough intelligence,” he said.