Migrations: Gérald Darmanin plans the end of “droit du sol” in Mayotte, 101st French department
This Sunday, February 11, on an official visit to Mayotte, the French Minister of the Interior Gérald Darmanin announced the coming end of “
droit du sol
” on this French island in the Indian Ocean, facing a serious migration crisis and an explosive social and security situation.
Gérald Darmanin, the French Minister of the Interior, visiting the 101st French department (illustrative image). “We are going to take a radical decision, which is the inscription of the end of land rights in Mayotte,” declared the minister on February 11. AFP - GREGOIRE MEROT
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“
We are going to take a radical decision, which is the inclusion of the end of land law in
Mayotte
in a constitutional revision that the President of the Republic will choose
,” declared the French Minister of the Interior,
Gérald Darmanin
upon his descent plane, at Marcel-Henry airport in Dzaoudzi. “
It will no longer be possible to become French if you are not yourself the child of French parents
,” he added, assuring that this will “
literally cut off the attractiveness
” that the archipelago can have when faced with a strong migratory pressure from neighboring Comoros. “
It is an extremely strong, clear, radical measure, which obviously will be limited to the Mayotte archipelago
,” he added.
Roadblocks
Since January 22, a collective of the “Forces vives de Mayotte” has maintained roadblocks in the four corners of the island, 101st French department, paralyzing traffic and disrupting economic life to denounce insecurity and the migration crisis. The poorest French department in France, Mayotte is populated by 310,000 inhabitants, according to INSEE - probably much more according to the Regional Chamber of Accounts - including 48% Comorian immigrants or other African countries. Most arrive clandestinely aboard traditional fishing boats,
kwassa-kwassa
, from
the Comorian island
of Anjouan, only 70 km away.
Gérald Darmanin specified that the abolition of land rights in Mayotte, as well as the tightening of family reunification permitted by a law on immigration passed in December 2023, will make it possible to “
put an end to the territorialized visa
”, a system preventing holders of a Mahorais residence permit to come to mainland France. Its removal is one of the main demands of the groups of angry residents who have paralyzed the island since last month. Still according to the French Minister of the Interior, the removal of this system must be recorded in a Mayotte bill - announced for a long time and confirmed on January 30 by the new Prime Minister Gabriel Attal - which will be tabled in the National Assembly “
in the coming weeks
”.
A “
new Wuambushu operation
”
The Ministry of the Interior announced that it was preparing "
a new major operation against delinquency and illegal immigration
", with Gérald Darmanin's entourage referring to an "
Operation Wuambushu 2
". As part of Operation Wuambushu launched in spring 2023, hundreds of additional police and gendarmes were deployed in Mayotte to stem the flow of arrivals of migrants from the Comoros and combat delinquency and unsanitary housing. However, many residents found its results disappointing. At the end of 2023, violent clashes between gangs of young people from rival villages left three people dead.
This Sunday, February 11, during the day, Gérald Darmanin and the new Minister Delegate for Overseas Territories, Marie Guévenoux, are due to visit the Cavani stadium, in a district of Mamoudzou, where the installation of migrants from Great Africa Lakes has been crystallizing tensions since the start of the year.
(
With AFP
)
Read alsoBlockages in Mayotte: part of the population demonstrates virulently
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Gerald Darmanin