Mayotte was part of the Union of the Comoros, which included 4 islands: Grand Comoro, Mohéli, Anjouan, and Mayotte. This Union (former French colonies) are Muslim states known for their extreme poverty (According to the UN Human Development Index, these islands rank 169 out of 187 countries on poverty levels). Only Mayotte has escaped from the Islamic regime, being considered as a department and region of France; Also Mayotte has been able to escape from the extreme poverty, but not at all. France is helping Mayotte to become a country with a more liberal regime despite that almost 97% of the population is Muslim, and to develop in all areas; Being part of France, Mayotte is also part of the European Union; therefore they use the Euro as their national currency.

The relationship between Mayotte and France has provoked the entrance of a prominent number of illegal immigrants to Mayotte, most of them coming mainly from the Comoros islands, but also from Madagascar and other African countries (Statistics show that 1 of 3 inhabitants of Mayotte are “illegal’). As a consequence of the search for the “American Dream” to Mayotte, thousands of people live in extreme poverty, piled up in fabricated suburbs, trying to survive as they can.

The actions of the government to deport the illegal immigrants have created a problem even worse. When the adults are caught to be sent back to their countries, they leave their children in Mayotte, because parents rather their children try their luck in a country supposedly “flowing with milk and honey” than return to the poverty they came from. As a result, currently, more than 4000 children have been abandoned in Mayotte, living without their parents, looking for their own way to survive, wandering in the streets, being pushed little by little toward delinquency, prostitution….

Poverty includes also many residents of Mayotte, where we can find low income neighborhoods, with a mixed population of locals and immigrants who were able to arrange their migratory status

Another situation in Mayotte concerns the illiteracy, a problem that affects more than half of the population, from children to adults and especially women. More than 60% of the population does not know French, the official language of the country; they only speak their dialect, “Shimaore”. Many problems come as consequence such as students failing school, unemployment, integration difficulties, delinquency, and more.

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Click here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mayotte

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