In brief
Last week, peaceful demonstrations in Mauritius over water scarcity and rising costs spiralled into the island’s worst unrest in decades. The violence spurred Prime Minister Navin Ramgoolam to impose a curfew and order security forces to rein in the chaos. A woman was shot at a roadblock, and the officer involved has been arrested. While police report that the situation has stabilized, the underlying crisis over water supply is expected to linger until the rainy season.
Mauritius is marching through its worst riots in decades after a woman was shot by police during a wave of protests that began last week over water shortages and the high cost of living.
Police imposed an overnight curfew to quell the chaos. The curfew, ordered by Prime Minister Navin Ramgoolam on Tuesday, aimed to prevent further violence and protect the island’s tourism and financial services industry.
The shooting incident remains unclear, but the officer has been arrested and remanded in custody.
Protesters set tyres ablaze and blocked roads. They also vandalised police stations and other public infrastructure. As a result, schools and public transport were shut down and foreign embassies warned their nationals to stay cautious.
Despite the curfew, police reported several overnight incidents and arrests, but renewed their confidence that traffic had resumed normal flows by Wednesday morning.
Analysts say that while the government’s immediate response — closing schools and imposing a curfew — was needed, water shortages are likely to persist until the December rains.
