In Madagascar, there’s a saying that goes: Tenim-bazaha tsy miverina indroa – “a white man never gives his word twice”. In daily life, it signals a refusal to repeat oneself, yet it still carries a deep-seated scepticism toward promises made by foreign powers, especially those with a colonial past. Madagascar was a French colony for over six decades, from 1896 to 1960. That legacy endures not only in geopolitics, but also in the very language people use.
Emmanuel Macron, the first French president to visit the former colony since Jacques Chirac in 2005, had his work cut out for him. He closed a landmark two-day visit to Madagascar on Thursday, signing a raft of agreements with Malagasy President Andry Rajoelina. Among the highlights was long-awaited funding from France for the Volobe hydroelectric dam, a project years in the making. Macron also spoke of expanding France’s reach in East Africa and the Indian Ocean, pledging to “conquer the market” of the Indian Ocean Commission.
Read moreMacron announces economic deals with Madagascar on first official visit
Yet behind the public display of partnership, a more fraught issue remains unresolved: the dispute over the Scattered Islands.
Islands of contention
Uninhabited and scattered across the Mozambique Channel and Western Indian Ocean, the islands – including Bassas da India, Europa, Juan de Nova, Tromelin, and the Glorioso Islands – have been under French control since colonial times. Madagascar, along with neighbouring Mauritius Island and the Comoros – all former French Colonies – has long claimed them.
While they cover just 43 km² of land, these tiny territories grant France jurisdiction over a staggering 640,400 km² of maritime space, roughly 6% of its total maritime domain. And each island has its own scattered history.
“Europa Island saw very little activity, and what it did have was episodic,” said Samuel Sanchez, a professor of history at Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne. “But Juan de Nova had deeper links to Madagascar. In the 19th century, Malagasy fishermen from the Baly Bay came to hunt sea turtles there and trade their shells with European merchants.”
Tromelin, unlike the others, lies outside the Mozambique Channel. France bases its claim on discovery, citing the landing of a French sailor in 1722. But for many in Madagascar, the island carries symbolic weight: it was once the site of a tragic shipwreck involving enslaved Malagasy who survived there for years.
Historically, all islands were administered as part of the colony of Madagascar before being separated just ahead of the country’s independence in 1960. Today, none of the islands have permanent civilian populations, but France maintains a military presence on several of them. Madagascar has long contested their detachment, arguing that it was illegal – a stance supported by two United Nations resolutions passed in 1979 and 1980, both of which called for the “reintegration of the islands that were arbitrarily separated from Madagascar.”
‘Mostly symbolic’
In recent years, France has taken steps toward acknowledging its colonial past, with President Emmanuel Macron leading efforts to reshape the country’s image in Africa. One of the most symbolic moves came in 2021, when France formally returned looted artworks to Benin.
Madagascar, too, has seized on this momentum. The claim over the Éparses Islands has become a nationalist rallying point, helping to consolidate political support at home. Yet beyond the symbolism, Madagascar has offered few details about its plans for the islands, leaving questions about how it intends to manage or develop the vast territory it seeks to reclaim.
“The claim is mostly symbolic,” said Sanchez. “It’s about reversing an administrative defeat from the independence era. These islands sit on Madagascar’s continental shelf, and the separation contradicts UN decolonisation principles.”
“It wouldn’t change much economically. Madagascar struggles to patrol its own waters – illegal fishing is rampant. But politically, any president who secures the islands would win huge domestic support,” he added.
Strategic buffers
But France shows little sign of relinquishing control. The islands are key to what experts call France’s “triangle of power” in the region, along with Réunion and Mayotte. They anchor France’s maritime, ecological and military reach in the Indian Ocean.
Historian Paul Villatoux noted, “Without the islands, France’s claim over the region weakens. It would also embolden regional competitors like Russia or China.”
The Mozambique Channel is a crucial shipping lane between Asia and Europe, especially relevant when routes like the Suez Canal are disrupted. “That’s why France sees these islands as strategic buffers,” Sanchez said. “They might seem unused now, but their future value is immense. That’s why France won’t just give them up, not unless there’s a meaningful trade-off.”
Despite their strategic role, the islands remain largely undeveloped, designated by Paris as protected ecological sanctuaries. They host only a minimal human presence – just 14 military personnel, a policeman, and an occasional state official.
Military deployments, once routine, are now also harder to sustain because of the ecological implications. Runways on some islands can no longer support planes due to environmental protections. Since 2018, for instance, Tromelin has been serviced only by helicopter in order to protect nesting birds.
“Eventually, it may become impossible to maintain any human presence at all,” said Villatoux. “That’s the paradox: the islands are coveted for their strategic value, yet treated as sanctuaries.”
A diplomatic frenzy
France continues to administer the islands, but Madagascar has intensified its push for full sovereignty. The momentum has grown beyond bilateral lines. In 2023, the United Kingdom’s decision to return the Chagos Archipelago to Mauritius has further emboldened the movement.
Mauritius, too, has staked a claim : Tromelin. It argues that a mistranslation in the 1814 Treaty of Paris led to confusion. The English version ceded the island’s “dependencies” to Britain, while the French version listed them individually, omitting Tromelin. The Comoros, for their part, have laid claim to the Glorioso Islands.
A bilateral commission is set to meet in Paris on June 30 to discuss the future of the islands. President Rajoelina remains cautiously optimistic. “Madagascar and France are determined to find a solution together,” he said on Wednesday.
Yet, as an old Malagasy proverb cautions, a promise made twice is often not meant to be kept.
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