Mayotte: Sacha Houllier opposes the abolition of land rights, a measure that “will have no effect”

In his opinion, it will have “no impact” on illegal immigration. The President of the Legal Committee of the Renaissance Assembly, Sacha Houllier, said that this Saturday he opposed the repeal of the land law in Mayotte, which is to be the subject of the upcoming constitutional review. “Will the revision of land legislation be effective and produce results (…)? My answer is no,” said Sacha Houllier on the stage of the Grand Jury RTL/M 6/Le Figaro.

According to an elected official from Vienna, illegal migrants “come because Mayotte’s GDP per inhabitant is 9,000 euros, and although from the mainland this figure may seem incredibly low (…), it is incredibly high for all countries in the region”, starting with neighboring Comoros, he claimed. Thus, these populations are making the transition to “benefit from the region’s best government services, hospitals, and school services.” (….) These people will stop coming not because we are depriving them of citizenship,” he said.

The Constitution needs to be revised

Sacha Houllier also argued that some of the illegal immigration now comes from “people from the Great Lakes of Africa who come not for residency but for asylum.” And the Citizenship Code, that is, the land law, will not have any influence on the right of asylum,” he assured.

The abolition of land rights in Mayotte, that is, the acquisition of French citizenship for everyone born in the department, is a proposal by Emmanuel Macron, who fears “the collapse of public services on the island.” Thus, the Minister of the Interior, Gérald Darmanin, must present a text “before the summer”, which, in particular, will require a revision of the constitution and therefore the consent of at least 3/5 of the parliamentarians assembled in Congress.

Will there be a majority? “As for the revision of the Constitution, we will see. I think it’s a little more complicated,” Sacha Houllier avoided. “I understood that some of our opposition would play an important role in the struggle for supremacy so that this repealed land law would not only affect Mayotte, which would actually jeopardize the constitutional review on this issue,” he explained.

Mayotte, in the Indian Ocean, is home to 310,000 people, including 48% immigrants from the Comoros and other African countries, according to official figures that are likely to be largely underestimated.