France, Feb. 19 -- Children born to immigrants to Mayotte,a former colony turned overseas department of France, could soon be cut off the path to French nationality. This is not the first time the government has made different rules for the Indian Ocean islands.

Situated between Mozambique and Madagascar, off the coast of south-east Africa, Mayotte is some 7,500 kilometres from mainland France.

The gulf between them is about to get even bigger.

Interior Minister Gerald Darminin announced this month that the government plans to change France's constitution to revoke the right to citizenship for children born to foreign parents in Mayotte.

That would make the island territory the only part of France where jus soli - the right to citizen...