Mayotte

One island stays

Mayotte is the southeasternmost of the four Comoro Islands, made up of the main island, Grande Terre, and the smaller Petite Terre. Most people are Mahorais of Malagasy origin and Sunni Muslim; French is the official language, but most speak Comorian, a language close to Swahili.^[1]

France took Mayotte in 1843, and in the early 20th century it joined the other Comoros and Madagascar in a single French colony.^[1] In a referendum on 22 December 1974 the people of the Comoros as a whole voted by a large majority for independence.^[2] In 1975 the three northern islands declared independence, but the people of Mayotte chose to remain with France, which from then on ran the island separately.^[1]

The UN and the claim

France held two more referendums on Mayotte, on 8 February and 11 April 1976.^[2] On 21 October 1976 the UN General Assembly declared them null and void, called France’s presence a violation of the Comoros’ national unity and territorial integrity, and called on France to withdraw immediately.^[2] The Assembly passed another resolution in 1979 affirming Comorian sovereignty, and the African Union also backed the claim.^[1]

France’s position rests on the islanders’ own votes. Mayotte was given a special status of its own in 1976, and in March 2009 95 percent of voters chose to make it a full overseas department of France, which it became in March 2011.^[1]

“Condemns and considers null and void the referendums of 8 February and 11 April 1976 organized in the Comorian island of Mayotte by the Government of France”^[2]

Poorest corner of the EU

Mayotte is the poorest territory in France and in the European Union, though richer than the neighbouring Comoros, and many migrants come from there to Mayotte in search of work. Many people live in shelters made of metal sheets.^[1]

In December 2024 Cyclone Chido, a category-4 storm, flattened whole neighbourhoods and left at least a third of the population without shelter or water in the days that followed.^[1]