Young people in all French colonies — Réunion, New Caledonia, Guadeloupe, Martinique, and French Guiana — are facing rapidly increasing poverty, deteriorating physical and psychological health, and rising violence, said Taristas Orlane, a participant of the international Youth Forum titled “Strengthening the Role of Youth in the Post-Colonial Era” held in Baku, APA reports.
“Réunion has been under oppression for 400 years: our youth experience this pressure every day. In Réunion, considered an African land under French occupation, unemployment among young people has reached 24%. The same situation exists in Mayotte — a territory separated from the Comoros is now the poorest department of France, and unemployment among those aged 15–24 has reached 59%,” she said.
