They should be lifted on Wednesday. Since the beginning of January, roadblocks have blocked economic life in Mayotte. Organized to denounce insecurity and the migration crisis, the blockages led to a government response this weekend. Arriving on the island on Sunday February 11, Gérald Darmanin promised “extremely strong measures” to respond to the anger of the population. The most noted: that of the announcement of the end of land law in Mayotte, which the executive wants to make possible through a constitutional revision. “It will no longer be possible to become French if you are not yourself the child of French parents,” said the Minister of the Interior. “We will reduce the attractiveness that there may be in the archipelago” .
According to the latest census, as of January 1, 2024, there are more than 320,000 inhabitants in Mayotte. The figure could seem ordinary, considering the demographics of other French departments: more than Guyana (295,385 people) and less than the Vosges (where there are 355,431) or Haute-Vienne (370,339). Its evolution is not. In just over half a century, the island’s population has increased tenfold, doubling in the last thirty years. An “extraordinary” development, in the words of INSEE, “both with regard to national, as well as European and global standards”. This increase results in a very high density on “Hippocamp Island” which, with its 805 inhabitants per square kilometer, can only be compared to certain departments of Île-de-France. The reason for this booming demographic is largely linked to immigration, in a territory where almost half of the population of Mayotte does not have French nationality – but not only that.
The increase in the number of inhabitants can be explained firstly by strong natural growth. The population of Mayotte is young, and its fertility rate is high. In 2005, a report from the Overseas Emission Institute (Iedom) noted that the population of the territory was still “in a phase of demographic transition” – which means the transition from a society where the number of birth and death rates are high, with a young population, in a population where birth rates and mortality are low. In the 1950s, the average was eight children per woman, compared to three in mainland France.
A “significant tension on immigration flows”
In the 1980s, Paris launched several birth planning programs to encourage a reduction in the birth rate. From 8.1 children per woman in 1978, Mayotte rose to 5.8 children per woman in the 1990s. The drop is significant, but not sufficient to stem the increase in the Mahorese population. Half of the island’s inhabitants are under 20 years old. Between 2002 and 2007, the growth rate of the Mahorean population was 3.1%, compared to 0.6% in mainland France. The inhabitants there are still extremely young: 71% of Mahorais are under 30 years old. “This means that Mayotte had not finished its demographic revolution, and has not yet finished it today: the population is young, likely to have children,” observes François Hermet, lecturer in economics at the University of Reunion.
Immigration adds to this demographic gap. Located in the Mozambique Channel, between the African continent and Madagascar, Mayotte is less than 70 km from Anjouan, part of the Comoros archipelago. The proximity is such that it is possible to cross the distance between the two islands by boat. Between 1892 and 1976, Mayotte and the Comorres belonged to the same French protectorate. After the referendum on the Independence of the Comoros in 1975, Mayotte remained French, but free movement was granted between the island and the rest of the archipelago. “Family ties” and “the growing development gap between Mayotte and its neighbors” create “significant tension on immigration flows”, notes Senator Henri Torre (UMP) in a report written in 2008. In 1995, Edouard Balladur intended to slow down the arrival of Comorians on the French island and put an end to free movement by creating “Balladur visas”.
Mayotte attracts
Very difficult to obtain, these documents do not however discourage illegal crossings aboard kwassa-kwassa, the boats of local fishermen. The relative economic attractiveness of Mayotte is not the only reason for the influx of Comorians to the island, but also has political reasons. In 1997, separatist movements on the island of Anjouan demanded its attachment to France. The political situation there is so unstable that a military putsch was even attempted in August 2001. The instability led to an increase in illegal immigration to Mayotte, despite the danger of the crossing – more than 3,000 people died at sea between 1995 and and 2003.
In 2011, Mayotte’s transition from departmental community to department strengthened its attractiveness. The poorest department in France is almost opulent compared to the rest of the area. In 2020, the GDP per capita in Mayotte is 9,978 euros, compared to 468 euros in Madagascar, or 1,502 euros in the Comoros. Between 2012 and 2017, the population increased by 3.8% per year on average. This increase is linked to immigration, but also to an increase in fertility. “Comorian or African women who arrive in Mayotte tend to have more children than Mahorese women,” notes Serge Rey, professor of economics at the University of Pau. “Automatically, their presence raises the fertility rate.”
According to INSEE, their “fertility indicator” was six children per woman in 2017, compared to 3.5 for natives of Mayotte. Over the period, this tenfold increase in the population was only slowed down by one factor: the massive departure of the Mahorais to the rest of France. Between 2012 and 2017, more than 25,900 natives left the island.
.