On an official visit to Mayotte, a French archipelago located in the northern part of the Mozambique Channel, the Minister of the Interior, Gérald Marmanin, announced a “radical” measure with the end of “droit du sol”. The objective is to fight against the migratory pressure that the island is experiencing from the neighboring islands of the Comoros.
“We are going to take a radical decision, which is to include the end of land rights in Mayotte in a constitutional revision which will be chosen by the President of the Republic,” declared the French Minister of the Interior, Gérald Darmanin the next day. . as he got off the plane at the airport. Marcel-Henry de Dzaoudzi.
“It will no longer be possible to become French if you are not the child of a French father or mother,” he added, believing that this would “literally cut off the attractiveness” of the archipelago, facing strong migratory pressure from neighboring countries. Comoros. “This is an extremely strong, clear and radical measure, which will obviously be limited to the Mayotte archipelago,” he added.
road closures
Since January 22, the collective “Forces vivants de Mayotte” has been carrying out roadblocks across the four corners of the island, the 101st department of France, paralyzing traffic and disrupting economic life, to protest against insecurity and the migration crisis. .
Mayotte, the poorest French department in France, has 310,000 inhabitants, according to INSEE, the national statistics institute. But there would probably be many more according to the Regional Chamber of Accounts. 48% of the population is made up of immigrants from the Comoros or other African countries. Most arrive illegally on traditional fishing boats, kwassa-kwassa, from the Comorian island of Anjouan, located just 70 km away.
Gérald Darmanin declared that the abolition of the right of residence in Mayotte, combined with the tightening of family reunification rules introduced by an immigration law passed in December 2023, will make it possible “to put an end to the territorial visa”, a system which prevents holders of a Maori residence permit to travel to mainland France.
Its abolition is one of the main demands of the resident groups who have paralyzed the island since last month. According to the French Minister of the Interior, the removal of this measure will be included in a bill on Mayotte – announced some time ago and confirmed on January 30 by the new Prime Minister Gabriel Attal – which will be presented to the Assembly national “in the coming years”.
A “new Wuambushu operation”
The Ministry of the Interior announced that it was preparing “a new major operation against crime and illegal immigration”. Gérald Darmanin’s entourage speaks of “Operation Wuambushu 2”. As part of Operation Wuambushu, launched in spring 2023, hundreds of additional police and gendarmes were deployed in Mayotte to stop the flow of migrants from the Comoros and fight against crime and substandard housing.
However, for many local residents, the results were disappointing. At the end of 2023, violent clashes between gangs of young people from rival cities left three people dead.
Sunday February 11, Gérald Darmanin and the new Overseas Minister, Marie Guévenoux, were to go to the Cavani stadium, in a district of Mamoudzou where the settlement of emigrants from the African Great Lakes region is crystallizing. beginning of the year.
The return of the immigration issue to the political scene
The left is indignant and the right applauds Darmanin’s announcement. “Finally!” exclaimed Éric Ciotti on the social network
On the left, the leader of the socialist deputies, Boris Vallaud, warned that his party would not vote in favor of such a revision of the Constitution. According to him, it would be ineffective. For her part, Marie Toussaint, head of the environmentalist list for the European elections, spoke of “the demolition of our values”.
In short, Gérald Darmanin’s announcement reopens the barely healed wounds of the debate on the immigration law two months ago and allows the far right to deploy its program.
On French private television BFM TV this Sunday, Marion Maréchal, head of the list of the far-right Reconquista movement for the European elections, was quick to ask that the measure be extended “to all of France”.
This is the start of a new debate. If he wants to avoid a referendum on the issue, the President of the Republic will have to have this constitutional reform approved by parliamentarians, still divided on the question of immigration.
Source: Latercera
I am David Jack and I have been working in the news industry for over 10 years. As an experienced journalist, I specialize in covering sports news with a focus on golf. My articles have been published by some of the most respected publications in the world including The New York Times and Sports Illustrated.
