May 2018 - A group of residents from the Indian Ocean French island of Mayotte has been rounding up suspected illegal migrants and taking them to local police.

The move targeted around 100 "foreigners, Comorans and Africans", a member of the group told AFP.

Protests against the economic crisis and illegal immigrants from the Comoros islands have paralysed the island.

Locals complain that the arrivals of migrants are putting Mayotte's health, housing and education services under pressure.

French Guiana in South America has experienced a similar influx from Haiti and neighbouring countries in recent years that has also put pressure on under-resourced hospitals and schools.

About 70% of the 10,000 babies born every year in the island's only maternity hospital in the main town of Mamoudzou are born to illegal migrants, mainly from the Comoran islands, according to official statistics.

It is said to be one of France's busiest - to the point that the government is considering declaring the hospital as non-French territory so that children born there do not automatically qualify for French citizenship.

"The truth is we're suffocating in Mayotte. We can't access our hospitals anymore. We have to go to Reunion Island or elsewhere for treatment," Marianne, a protester, told the AFP news agency.

"We can't give birth in Mayotte anymore because there are too many deliveries. Our safety is at stake."