In a report made public on Tuesday, human rights defender Jacques Toubon said that Mayotte suffered from a "major problem of access to public services and rights". He insisted that this problem should not be overlooked by the state, focused on the fight against illegal immigration. He also denounced a certain “legitimization of denial of rights, however flagrant”.
“In Mayotte, more than elsewhere, there is a huge gap between the rights enshrined and those actually exercised. The fundamental rights - rights to education, to safety, to health, to live in decent conditions - are not effective there ”, underlines Jacques Toubon in introduction. He notes that "if the undersizing of Mahoran public services is such that it does not ensure its enjoyment for all people (…), responsibility must be sought on the side of those who have it charge and not of those who use it ”.
Undersized care offer
The Defender of Rights points out the lack of attractiveness of the territory and the recruitment difficulties, which affect in particular the medical sector and lead to an undersized care offer, the difficulties of access to health insurance or medical evacuations.
He also criticizes the still "alarming" situation in education in Mayotte, where "the right to schooling is ineffective", especially for unaccompanied minors, due to the refusal of registration by certain mayors, and where the protection of childhood faces "persistent inertia".
Rights violations in the fight against irregular immigration
Likewise, foreigners on the territory face "derogatory and always more restrictive rules" and "a policy of reception and integration of foreigners practically non-existent", he deplores.
Finally, he denounces violations of “frequent and repeated” rights in the fight against irregular immigration: “expeditious execution of expulsions”, detention of minors, minors arbitrarily attached to a third party to be removed, etc.
Risk of stoking social tensions
"From the side of the public authorities, the thesis that the proper functioning of public services and the social balance of the island would be jeopardized by massive immigration seems to be widely relayed," he deplores. “The state response to the deprivation of infrastructure thus focuses on the fight against irregular immigration, at the risk of widening the cleavages and stoking social tensions. "
In this archipelago of 374 km2, which became a French department in 2011, 48% of the 256,000 inhabitants are foreigners, according to INSEE, 95% of whom are Comorians. During his visit in October, President Emmanuel Macron was delighted that the deportations to the border had "greatly increased". They reached more than 27,000 in 2019, up 39% compared to 2017.
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- Mayotte