4 ms·

No the folks there are happy to be French, enjoying the EU passport and French safety net.

• klipt 7y ago
  I'm sure a bunch of people in third world countries would be happy to have US/EU passports, but it would still be colonialism for US/European countries to annex them, wouldn't it?
  • Tsubasachan 7y ago
    Colonialism is a double edged sword. France now has a responsibility to those islands. The Netherlands has the same problem: a bunch of fairly useless Caribbean islands that were a good idea at the time but are an anachronistic leftover from a different past now. It would be criminal to just dump them now.
  • seszett 7y ago
    Well, Réunion was not "annexed" either, it was settled by France while it was unpopulated and most people descend from settlers from France (to various degrees, as the population is very mixed). Its situation is probably comparable to the Azores. There has literally never been any sizable independence sentiment and it's unlikely to appear in the foreseeable future.
  • lmm 7y ago
    Would it be colonialism isn't really the question. Would it be ethical? That's closer to the question, but really what's important is: what's the most ethical way forward starting from where we are now?