The Illegal Occupation of the Comorian Island of Mayotte by France

In Africa, the independence of the former African ‘associated states’ following the 1958 referendum on the new French Constitution, ushered in a short-lived period of free association in advance of independence at the beginning of the 1960s and the beginning of a new phase of neo-colonialism.
This provided France with preferential access to the natural resources of the newly sovereign African states along with undue French political and economic influence. However, France retained two classic colonies, Mayotte and Réunion, for geo-strategic purposes including claims to the exclusive economic zone in the Indian Ocean and proximity to the African continent to reinforce its geo-political and geoeconomic ‘interests’ in the region.