A colony in the general sense is a territory that has been invaded and is permanently occupied, and where the native population does not have equal rights and c

A colony in the general sense is a territory that has been invaded and is permanently occupied, and where the native population does not have equal rights and cannot decide on their independence (or integration, since the idea is that they should have a choice). Although it once was the case, it is incorrect to refer to Mayotte and Reunion as colonies. They are French departments. Their inhabitants are not "allowed to work in France", they are French, if they move to metropolitan France, they're just changing department. Saying they're a colony would be like saying Alaska or New Mexico are colonies. Moreover Mayotte did not vote to "stay" in France, the referendum was about switching from one status to another (essentially, from Oversea Department to 'normal' department) and they chose the most convenient one (shocking, I know). It is true that they receive some extra subsidies, mostly because of their isolated location (which makes the cost of life higher). Due to the high level of unemployment, they also receive social subsidies, but that's just like any other department in France (but of course you won't hear a lot of complaints about how the North-Eastern regions are costing the rest of the country a ton of money...). Moreover they also receive less government investment when it comes to infrastuctures, i.e. schools or hospitals (even though they have to contend with tropical diseases and hurricanes). The trope about "lazy black people under the tropics" (as opposed to Fench citizens who happen to live in regions where the economy is bad) is a common dog whistle in France. Much like with American nativists, there is this thing with implying who is a 'real' French and who isn't, and it seems to upset a number of white French that there are also black French who have been part of France for longer than they themselves may have been, so depicting them as remote people who are only in it to take money is quite convenient. To get back to the main topic, it's true that "last colony" is a bit weird. There are other more-or-less similar conflicts in Africa (Casamance, Cabinda, Chagos) where the locals could refer to themselves as colonized.