It is a
great honour and a privilege for me to address this
Assembly for the first time since I took office as
President of the Union of the Comoros, on 26 May.
Allow me at the outset to warmly congratulate
His Excellency Mr. Nassir Abdulaziz Al-Nasser on his
election as President of the General Assembly at its
sixty-sixth session. I wish also to congratulate His
Excellency Mr. Joseph Deiss and his entire team on
their remarkable work. Lastly, I should like to pay a
well-deserved tribute to the Secretary-General, His
Excellency Mr. Ban Ki-moon, for his commendable
and unceasing efforts to ensure that our Organization
can better meet its objectives in a world increasingly
marked by all kinds of crises: political, economic,
social and environmental.
The Assembly is convening in its sixty-sixth
session at a time when all humankind is struggling
through one of its most difficult times. Indeed, peace,
the most precious common good in the world, has
never been more threatened. It is under threat on all of
our continents, in our regions, in our subregions and in
every one of our countries. It is threatened by political
crises, diseases and natural disasters. It is also
threatened by poor living conditions, unemployment,
insecurity and underdevelopment.
The hotspots that have emerged in various
regions of the world and the recent uprisings in North
Africa and the Middle East have claimed, and continue
to claim, many victims. Our countries continue to be
burdened by emerging diseases, but also and especially
by non-communicable diseases. In fact, cancers,
diabetes and, in particular, cardiovascular diseases
have taken many lives in our countries and threaten
their development.
The problem of education and the lack of basic
infrastructure, energy and potable water also pose a
threat to peace and security in many developing
countries. Moreover, no country today is safe from
natural disasters linked to climate change. This
situation is all the more tragic in small island
developing States such as mine.
I need not mention the toxic effects of the
financial crisis, which continues to affect our countries
and seriously compromises the future of the global
economy. Therefore, I should like to issue an urgent
appeal to the international community to enhance its
role in seeking rapid resolutions of all of these crises.
Indeed, only by working together and effectively
to fight disease will we be able to ensure that our
populations are healthy and our human resources are
more productive. By joining our efforts, we may also
curb unemployment through education and job creation
and succeed in re-launching the socio-economic
development of our countries. In addition, eradicating
corruption — which is increasingly rampant in our
countries — will help us succeed in re-launching
development, which is an essential factor of peace and
stability. Moreover, by strengthening the culture of
democracy and rule of law, our countries will evolve
towards greater peace and stability, which are key
conditions for sustainable development.
The President took the Chair.
We must further develop solidarity among the
member countries of this concert of nations. That must
be done to bring our world out of its vulnerable state.
The efforts of the developing countries in increasingly
difficult situations will not succeed without active
solidarity. The quasi-collective mobilization effort seen
today in Europe and generally in the West to stem the
financial crisis is most commendable. However, it must
be extended to other sectors and continents. Likewise,
it is indeed appropriate to act swiftly and in unison to
achieve the Millennium Development Goals, which
have inspired so much hope in our countries.
In this world in crisis, the Union of the Comoros
has for the second time experienced an exemplary,
peaceful change at the top level of the State. However,
its solid footing in democracy and good governance
will become truly irreversible only when poverty,
misery and vulnerability cease to exist. That is why we
have taken measures to fight corruption and to better
use our national resources and preserve and protect
biodiversity. Indeed, as a small island developing State
that is directly concerned, we attach very special
attention to the question of climate change and the
environment. We work every day to improve the
standard of living of our fellow citizens. But we also
need the support of the international community.
In addition, and despite its difficult situation, my
country will never set aside its responsibility to act
within the international community. We intend to offer
our modest contribution to mankind’s quest for a better
world. Thus we take an active part in building peace
and security by participating in the Eastern Africa
Standby Brigade, in accordance with the requests of
11-51191 28
the international community. While we are aware that
our means are modest, we intend to play our role
within the African Union-United Nations Hybrid
Operation in Darfur, because promoting peace
anywhere in the world, particularly in Africa, remains
for us a major imperative.
Terrorism, piracy and other transborder organized
crime, including the trafficking of drugs and light
weapons, are direct threats today to human security and
to the national security of many countries. My country
is doing its best to combat those scourges. But the
international community must also provide greater
assistance towards prevention, both structurally and
operationally. Early warning mechanisms, exchanges
of information and experiences, mutual assistance in
training, organization and capacity-building will enable
States and regional organizations, particularly the
African Union, to enhance their capacities.
Issues that have remained unresolved, sometimes
for decades, are sources of conflicts likely to
jeopardize the cause of peace and security. That is the
case in the question of Madagascar. The political crisis
affecting the brotherly people of Madagascar deserves
the full attention of the international community. The
current efforts of the transitional Government, under
the aegis of the Southern African Development
Community, call for multiform support from the
international community so that that large island can
finally regain peace and security for the well-being of
its people.
The same is true with regard to the question of
Palestine. The Comoros has always supported the
struggle of the brotherly Palestinian people and
supports the request of the Palestinian authorities to the
international community for the recognition of a
Palestinian State in its borders of June 1967, with East
Jerusalem as its capital. Indeed, for more than 30 years
Israel’s occupation of Palestinian lands has remained
an unresolved issue. As for my country, it supports that
recognition and appeals to all countries that love peace,
freedom and justice to do the same.
The Union of the Comoros cannot have any other
position on that question, since it is directly concerned
by another equally sensitive question that affects not
only its national unity, territorial integrity and history,
and international law, but also peace in the Indian
Ocean region. Here I refer to the question of the
Comorian island of Mayotte.
Allow me to emphasize that the inclusion of the
question of the Comorian island of Mayotte on the
agenda of several sessions of the General Assembly
and in relevant resolutions of the Assembly, the African
Union, the League of Arab States and the Organization
of Islamic Cooperation has not yet provided a solution
to this thorny question, which has placed us in
opposition to France for decades.
As the Assembly is aware, the unilateral decision
of France to make the Comorian island of Mayotte a
département is for us and for the international
community null and void and can in no way be
considered a fait accompli. Furthermore, the visa
regime imposed by the French authorities on
Comorians of the three other islands has broken up
many families by turning the sea channel that separates
Mayotte from its sister island Anjouan into a huge
cemetery, where rest the remains of thousands of my
compatriots who only wished to gain access to a part of
their territory.
However, we cannot simply continue to condemn
without any follow-up, or maintain fixed positions that
do not contribute to the settlement of the issue, while
we continue daily to witness many losses due to the
visa regime imposed by France.
Therefore, I wish to reiterate from this rostrum
my country’s legitimate determination to continue to
claim the reintegration of the Comorian island of
Mayotte as part of its natural grouping. However, we
hope to be able to conduct this struggle by means of
the necessary negotiations with France — an economic
partner of the Comoros — but also and above all
through including our brothers and sisters in Mayotte,
because there can be no realistic and lasting solution to
the dispute without their involvement.
That is the new approach that I proposed as soon
as I was inaugurated to settle the territorial conflict that
has divided my country and France for just over
30 years. Indeed, I believe that any search for a
solution to this thorny problem must include our
Mahorais brothers and sisters, with whom we share ties
knitted through history, blood, language, religion and
culture. We believe that the large Comorian diaspora in
France and the island of Réunion can join with its
brothers and sisters of Mayotte and the other three
Comorian islands in order finally to renew their natural
bonds, carry out projects and live out their common
destiny in harmony.
29 11-51191
In this light, and in our desire to see this problem —
which has lasted too long — be finally settled
favourably and peacefully, that we hope to promote the
negotiations with France and our Mahorais brothers
and sisters that we believe to be essential.
Speaking of territorial integrity, I would like to
make particular mention of countries that occupy a
special place in Comorians’ hearts. For the Kingdom of
Morocco, a brother country whose legitimate positions
on the Western Sahara my country has always
supported, I hope that the dialogue being held under
the auspices of the United Nations will quickly lead to
a peaceful solution to the problem. To the People’s
Republic of China, that great country and friend to the
Comoros, we here reaffirm our unfailing support for it
in its legitimate struggle for one China, developing in
peace and prosperity.
I cannot speak of justice and equity without
bringing up the need for internal reform of our
Organization, particularly the Security Council. We
believe that only better representation of every
continent on the Council, including the essential
African presence as a permanent member, can ensure
better cohesion within the international community and
thus do away with frustration and antagonism.
In conclusion, I would like to thank all the
friendly countries and the regional and international
organizations that continue to support us in multiple
ways in our efforts to re-launch our country’s
socio-economic development. In particular, I thank
Qatar, which hosted the conference on assistance in
investment and development in the Comoros, the
commitments for which have begun to materialize,
thanks to the untiring efforts of high-level Qatari
authorities. I would also like to thank the American
Administration for its kind efforts to make our stay in
this great and beautiful country enjoyable.