Human Rights Watch (HRW) on Thursday called on France’s National Assembly to include access to education and other core economic and social rights for children in a recent emergency bill for the French overseas department of Mayotte, an island off the coast of Africa in the Indian Ocean.

Elvire Fondacci, an advocacy officer at HRW, stated that “the bill before the National Assembly is an opportunity to correct decades of underinvestment, mismanagement, and persistent lack of political will that have severely undermined education in Mayotte.” Fondacci added that “ensuring the right to education for all children in France is not optional in Mayotte simply because it is an overseas territory.”

The National Assembly unanimously adopted an emergency bill for the reconstruction of the islands since residents of Mayotte have been struggling in the aftermath of the deadly Cyclone Chido, which struck the island in December 2024.

The emergency bill aims to remove barriers related to public procurement or urban planning regulations to facilitate the rebuilding of Mayotte. It contains provisions to relax town planning and public procurement rules, as well as certain social measures such as tax breaks. The bill also establishes a new public institution tasked with overseeing reconstruction efforts.

HRW, however, pointed out that the bill fails to address access to education and the protection of children’s rights. As one of France’s poorest departments and among the most disadvantaged regions in the EU, Mayotte faces a severe lack of educational infrastructure. HRW noted that nine percent of school-age children are not enrolled in school, and about 15,000 children do not have access to a full school day in public school.

This situation is partly driven by restrictive migration policies that result in many young people becoming undocumented at age 18, regardless of their birthplace and length of residence in Mayotte. HRW emphasized that education is a fundamental right, and that France must ensure the right is upheld for all children living in Mayotte.