“The end of land law in Mayotte”: Gérald Darmanin wants to review the conditions of access to French nationality on the island

Gérald Darmanin is traveling to Mayotte. MAXPPP – LUDOVIC MARIN/POOL

The Minister of the Interior Gérald Darmanin announced that he was going to "put an end to land law" in Mayotte. Traveling to the island this February 11, 2024, he wants to fight against delinquency and illegal immigration.

"It will no longer be possible to become French if you are not the child of French parents, we will cut off the attractiveness that' #39;there are in the archipelago" asked the Minister of the Interior, having barely arrived on the island. According to our colleagues from BFMTV, Gérald Darmanin announced that he was going to "inscribe the end of land law in Mayotte". 

Also read: Blockages in Mayotte: how the island fell into a social and migratory crisis “out of control”

Towards the end of the land law in Mayotte

Arriving with Overseas Minister Marie Guévenoux, the minister is traveling to Mayotte this Sunday to fight against the delinquency and insecurity plaguing the island. He also wants to put an end to illegal immigration. Gérald Darmanin sees the end of land rights on the island as a solution. 

Mayotte is already an exception in this area

As early as last year, the minister affirmed his desire to modify access to land rights on the island. It is indeed different in the department. It was modified 2018 during the asylum and immigration law.

Also read: UNDERSTAND EVERYTHING. Why Mayotte does not have the same land rights as the rest of French territory ?

Since this reform, validated by the Constitutional Council, a child becomes French at birth, if one of his parents has resided for at least three months continuously in the department from Mayotte.

Gérald Darmanin has never hidden his desire to further tighten the conditions for obtaining French nationality through land law in Mayotte – although they have already been modified since then six years.