Comoros immigrants to Mayotte incresingly fearful since protests Strikes and protests on the French Indian Ocean island of Mayotte show the growing frustration over mass migration and lawlessness in France's poorest department, which many there link to the influx of arrivals by sea from neighbouring non-French Comoran islands. While poor in French terms, Mayotte is a beacon of prosperity for residents of the neighboring severely impoverished, coup-prone islands: thousands pile into rickety boats to make the 70-kilometre (44-mile) crossing to Mayotte each year, including large numbers of pregnant women. IMAGES AND SOUNDBITES