Anyone born in the overseas department of Mayotte is usually French – which, to the chagrin of many Mahor residents, attracts large numbers of immigrants. Now Macron’s government wants to change the legal basis. France’s left fears a breach of “Égalité”.
Mayotte is a world away from Paris in every respect, including geographically: it’s just over 8,000 kilometers as the crow flies. But administratively, the small archipelago in the Indian Ocean is entirely French, it is the 101st department. Located halfway between Mozambique and Madagascar, Mayotte is blessed with plenty of natural beauty. The French on the French mainland, in the metropolis, as they still say, as if they were stuck in colonial times, hear about Mayotte every day – namely when the weather presenter on television describes the situation in the overseas territories. It never takes longer than two or three seconds, he swipes quickly from the Caribbean across the Indian Ocean to Polynesia: the weather is usually nice.