Controversy over French citizenship spreads to Mayotte, an Indian Ocean island.

Mayotte, a tiny island in the Indian Ocean and a French possession since 1841, is now a département of France. However, the territory's experience with mass immigration has led President Emmanuel Macron's government to reconsider the country's principle of equality for all. Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin recently announced that the automatic right to French citizenship through birth on the island will be revoked. This change will only apply to Mayotte and not the entire country. Both the left and right of French politics have concerns about this reform, with the left seeing it as a breach of the Republican principle of universality and the right arguing that the birthplace citizenship should be abandoned nationwide. Mayotte is currently facing civil disobedience due to local fears of being overwhelmed by outsiders. The island is located close to one of the poorest countries in Africa, the Comoros islands, and is experiencing a significant influx of boat migrants from there and asylum seekers from the Great Lakes region of Central Africa. Local citizens demand an end to the birthright citizenship as they believe it attracts immigrants. It is uncertain if ending birthright citizenship would actually curb immigration. However, the discussions surrounding this issue indicate a growing consensus among the mainstream and hard right in French politics to reconsider birthright citizenship in France as a whole.