Illegal immigration has been "real problem" for French island Mayotte, Macron says

Record ID: 1438084

  • Title: Illegal immigration has been "real problem" for French island Mayotte, Macron says
  • Date: 22nd October 2019
  • Summary: HAMJAGO, MAYOTTE, FRANCE (OCTOBER 22, 2019) (AGENCY POOL) VARIOUS OF CROWD WAITING FOR FRENCH PRESIDENT, EMMANUEL MACRON, PLAYING MUSIC AND SINGING
  • Embargoed: 5th November 2019 15:03
  • Keywords: Mayotte French island Indian Ocean Emmanuel Macron illegal immigration French overseas territories
  • Location: HAMJAGO, MAYOTTE, FRANCE
  • City: HAMJAGO, MAYOTTE, FRANCE
  • Country: France
  • Topics: Asylum/Immigration/Refugees,Government/Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVA001B26JIVB
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: President Emmanuel Macron began the first phase of his trip to France's overseas territories as he arrived on the French Indian Ocean island of Mayotte on Tuesday (October 22) to discuss illegal immigration and economic development.
    Macron said he would review the measures of the "Shikandra" civil-military operation aimed at quelling illegal immigration to the island, of which nearly half the population is made up of foreigners many of whom illegal immigrants.
    The French president faces an electoral threat from rivals on the populist right and is under pressure to crack down on migration. France's far-right National Rally party scored high in Mayotte, drawing nearly 46 percent of the vote, in May's European election.
    Mayotte is a former French colony that voted against independence in referenda in 1974 and 1976. It stayed French, with a status allowing legal differences from the mainland. In March 2009, Mayotte's people voted overwhelmingly to become a full-fledged part of France.
    The ties with mainland France have kept Mayotte richer and more stable than the coup-prone Indian Ocean state of Comoros, and many Comorians try to immigrate to Mayotte, which has begun deporting some of them.
    To boost development on the island, Macron also said education would be improved with the opening of 800 new classrooms before the end of his five-year presidential term.
    Macron will head to the islands of Glorioso and Reunion as part of his overseas visit.
    (Production: Pascale Antonie)
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