Post by @davud_akh

I have been informed that authorities in Comoros have been looking for me and contacting the hotel where I stayed to ask whether I am still in the country. 🇰🇲 This follows the videos I published from Moroni and surrounding areas, which sparked a major reaction online. The situation even reached the highest level of government, with the President of Comoros publicly reacting to my videos and saying that I should never set foot in the country again. He also spoke about restricting other vloggers and content creators from coming to Comoros. So here is my response. Comoros is a beautiful island nation with extraordinary marine life, natural beauty, culture, traditions and diversity. You have something millions of people around the world dream of experiencing once in their lifetime. Look at Seychelles and Mauritius. People travel across the world and spend thousands, sometimes tens of thousands, of dollars on honeymoons and once-in-a-lifetime holidays there. Guess what? Comoros has the same incredible nature, beauty, cultural diversity, similar accessibility from major airports and even more. I genuinely believe Comoros has every opportunity to become a high-end tourism destination in the Indian Ocean. But potential alone is not enough. What I personally witnessed was a country lacking the planning, organization, infrastructure and purposeful action required to develop tourism, create employment and protect the incredible environment it has been blessed with. And one issue is impossible to ignore: waste. Beautiful coastlines, roadsides and public areas should not be treated like open-air dumping grounds. I am not here to tell another country how it should be governed. But after traveling through more than 90 countries and seeing destinations at very different stages of development, I can speak about what I observe, what appears to be missing and what I believe is possible. Everything I showed came from my genuine experience on the ground. My reaction came from disappointment, frustration and sadness because when you see how beautiful these islands are and how much potential they have, it becomes even more painful to see parts of the capital, beaches and surrounding areas covered with waste. I never intended to insult the Comorian people or disrespect the country. Criticizing a problem is not the same as hating a country. Sometimes criticism comes precisely because you can see how much better something could become. And I stand by the issues I raised. The President himself has now reacted to my videos. But banning me, banning other vloggers or becoming angry at the person showing the problem does not make the problem disappear. The trash I filmed was already there before I arrived. I did not bring it there. I did not stage it. I simply turned my camera on and showed what was in front of me. People can attack the messenger, ban the messenger or use this attention as an opportunity to address why these videos received so much attention in the first place. That choice belongs to Comoros. As for authorities reportedly trying to find me by contacting the hotel where I stayed, that part also seemed rather unorganized. If the objective was simply to establish whether I was still inside the country, I would have assumed immigration and border-control records might have been a more efficient place to start than the hotel reception. Perhaps that is another system with room for improvement? Either way, I wish nothing bad upon Comoros or its people. Quite the opposite. Peace and love to the people of Comoros. I sincerely hope that one day these beautiful islands receive the investment, leadership, organization, environmental protection and care their people and Mother Nature deserve. And maybe one day, instead of being known internationally for videos showing mountains of trash, Comoros will be known for what it truly has the potential to become: one of the most beautiful island destinations in the Indian Ocean.