What is the land law that Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin wants to eliminate in Mayotte ?

Le droit du sol permet d'obtenir la nationalité française sous certaines conditions. ILLUSTRATION MAXPPP – Jean-François FREY

The Minister of the Interior, Gérald Darmanin, announced this Sunday, February 11 that land law would soon be abolished in Mayotte. Midi Libre explains to you what this right is which allows under certain conditions to acquire French nationality, and why it is different on the island.

The Minister of the Interior and Overseas Territories, Gérald Darmanin, announced this Sunday, February 11 "the end of land law" in Mayotte, an archipelago in the Indian Ocean in the grip of strong social protest against insecurity and irregular immigration.

At birth or at majority

The droit du sol allows a child born on French territory to two foreign parents to automatically acquire the French nationality at the age of 18. It can apply to birth under two conditions: if the child was born in France to stateless parents (i.e. without nationality), or if He was born in France to at least one French parent. In this case, we are talking about double right of the ground. 

As the Vie-publique site explains, if a child has not become a French citizen from birth, he can become one upon reaching the age of majority if he was born in France to two parents foreigners. "To do this, they must reside in France on the date they turn 18 and have their habitual residence in France for a continuous or discontinuous period of at least five years since the age of 11", specifies the government website. 

Exception in Mayotte

Faced with very high immigration from the Comoros, land law has already been tightened in the department of Mayotte in 2018, as part of the asylum and immigration law. 

Since this reform, a child born on the archipelago can only become French upon reaching the age of majority if, at the time of his birth, one of his parents resided regularly for at least three months and uninterruptedly in the territory. Elsewhere in France, no residency period is required.

Gérald Darmanin had announced that he wanted to further tighten access to French nationality in Mayotte in the summer of 2022, by requiring that a parent have legally resided there. #39;island for at least a year. The announcement by the Minister of the Interior this Sunday goes further and is positioned according to his die as a "radical decision" by removing land rights in Mayotte from the Constitution.