'Tis the season to riot?
Mauritius, the island nation in the Indian Ocean east of Madagascar and off Africa's southeastern coast, is experiencing what Bloomberg describes as the worst riots in three decades amid an affordability crisis.
"This time again, as in 1999, the police are the main target," Jocelyn Chan Low, a political analyst, told the outlet. "The scale of the violence has multiplied, with police stations and vehicles set ablaze."
🇲🇺 Mauritius closes schools and urges companies to adopt flexible arrangements as protests escalate: Media What reportedly sparked the unrest: 🔸 Protests erupted over water shortages, supply disruptions, and rising living costs; 🔸 Tensions flared after police shot and injured a 27-year-old woman on Friday; 🔸 On Monday night, demonstrators burned a police station in Rose Hill, torched tires, and blocked roads. 📹 Social media footage shows scenes of unrest.
— Sputnik Africa (@sputnik_africa) October 13, 2026
The social unrest has forced education centers to close and prompted the country's top business lobby to urge companies to let employees work from home amid the chaos.
Mauritius closed schools in some parts of the country following a night of unrest that began when a police officer shot a young woman https://t.co/2Xq17NYhRW https://t.co/6qBwDrMMei
— TRT Afrika (@trtafrika)
