Inza Touré arrived in France on March 2. This 27-year-old Ivorian had been in Ukraine since 2019, studying at the University of Dnipro. He was supposed to get a master’s degree in international relations there at the end of June, but the Russian invasion and attack on the country decided otherwise.
Speaking the French language and having distant family on the side of Chambéry (Savoy), he decided to take refuge in France. As soon as he arrived, she also participated in the reception of Ukrainian refugees as an interpreter; she also speaks Russian. He is currently housed by a volunteer from La Cimade, an association that supports immigrants, refugees and asylum seekers.
relief for students
For this young man from the Ivory Coast, it is not about returning to the country before having obtained a diploma. “I left Côte d’Ivoire after an English degree because there wasn’t the course I wanted at Cocody University” (Félix-Houphouët-Boigny University in Abidjan, editor’s note), he confesses to BFMTV.com.
“The objective has not been achieved. I will return to Côte d’Ivoire but only when I have my diploma, it is important to me,” adds Inza Touré, who aspires to work in large international organizations, such as the UN or Unicef. .
Inza Touré obtained a temporary residence permit upon arrival in France, which later expired. The young man was then notified by the prefect of the obligation to leave French territory (OQTF). A decision that he had challenged: he had been admitted to Sciences Po Grenoble for the next academic year.
But in early July, Joseph Zimet, the prefect in charge of hosting the displaced, announced a relaxation of the policy regarding non-Ukrainian students who had fled the war. “It was decided that the obligation to leave the territory would not apply, nor would any new OQTF be decided, until the beginning of the academic year,” he told the World.
Therefore, a further in-depth review of your situation should be carried out. “We will apply the same criteria to them as to students applying for a visa in France,” he added, estimating that the situation would affect “less than 200 people.” This is the case of Inza Touré, who has just found out that she has been granted a residence permit for studies.
Temporary protection denials
But for several months, his situation was precarious: a case far from exceptional. Mélanie Louis, responsible for deportation issues at La Cimade, has thus warned that denials of temporary protection are multiplying against non-Ukrainian citizens who work, study or are in the process of applying for asylum in Ukraine. “Some are also notified of an OQTF,” she scoffs at BFMTV.com.
“We cannot speak of systematic rejection, but the personal situation of these people and their links in Ukraine are not taken into account.”
Joseph Zimet, the prefect in charge of receiving the displaced, announced that more than 100,000 Ukrainians have been received in France, benefiting from temporary protection. As a reminder, More than six million people have fled Ukraine since the start of the Russian army’s invasion.
Temporary protection is a new device activated for the first time by the European Union. It grants a temporary residence permit for a renewable period of six months and allows you to work, receive a subsidy, benefit from French classes, receive treatment or apply for social housing.
A “differentiated” treatment according to nationalities?
Non-Ukrainian citizens can benefit from this temporary protection. This is the case for almost 3,500 third-country nationals, according to Joseph Zimet. But they must meet certain criteria.
Such as having a valid permanent residence permit issued by the Ukrainian authorities or not being able to return to your country of origin “safely and permanently”, indicates the French Office for the Protection of Refugees and Stateless Persons (Ofpra). It is denounced by the French Coordination for the Right of Asylum (CFDA), an interassociative collective.
“The differential treatment to which these people are subjected, who experience the same traumas of exile, separation and uncertainty of the future as those who have Ukrainian nationality, is unacceptable (…) For many of them, returning to their country of origin would put endanger the continuity of his university career or his professional life and would mean the end of a life perspective for which he has invested so much”, the CFDA wrote in a press release.
Asked about the issue, the Ministry of the Interior replied that a non-Ukrainian national who does not have a permanent residence permit in Ukraine “cannot benefit from temporary protection, regardless of the situation invoked in his country of origin (except relative, refugee, stateless)”.
The ministry also specifies that “if the person concerned reports risks or threats in the event of returning to their country of origin (…) the person is directed towards an asylum application so that their individual situation can be examined in this context by the Ofpra”, (the French Office for the Protection of Refugees and Stateless Persons).
“Her country of origin is Ukraine”
The French Coordination for the Right of Asylum (CFDA) denounces what it considers to be aberrations. Such as the case of a young man of Armenian nationality who arrived in Ukraine at the age of 1, who was denied temporary protection by France, while her mother was able to benefit from it.
Gérard Sadik, responsible for asylum affairs at La Cimade and representative of the CFDA, is concerned about a “very restrictive” and “dumb and bad” interpretation of European legislation. He explains that the country of origin criterion does not always make sense.
“We told this young Armenian that there was no conflict in Armenia and therefore he could go back there,” he is outraged for BFMTV.com. “However, he has lived in Ukraine for almost thirty years. If he is of Armenian nationality, his country of origin is no longer Armenia but Ukraine, the country where he used to live.”
For this young Armenian, the outcome should be favorable. He recently won his case in court. He and seven other Armenian citizens, who lived in Ukraine, successfully challenged the Seine-Maritime prefect’s denial of temporary protection. “There is a selection of nationalities when it is necessary to guarantee the protection of all those who have fled the conflict”, still laments Gérard Sadik, of the French Coordination for the right of asylum.
“We lost everything, we left everything”
Alaedine Ayad is worried. This 30-year-old Algerian arrived in Kyiv last October as part of his doctorate in microelectronics and photovoltaics. “I didn’t find funding in Algeria but my project was accepted in Ukraine,” she explains to BFMTV.com.
But after the start of the war, bombings near his apartment, several days of wandering trying to get on a train and several nights in the basement of a Ukrainian family, he manages to flee the country thanks to a friend. Arrived in Germany, he chose France: he speaks the language and a large part of his family lives there. His grandfather, a naturalized Frenchman, is also buried there. Like some of his aunts, born and died in France.
But he was denied temporary protection. The one-month temporary residence permit that was granted to him has expired and he has not received a response from the prefecture to his application for a residence permit. “I am undocumented.” However, he is registered, thanks to the Le Poing levé collective, at a Parisian university for the next school year.
“I had to give proof of resources, I had to show that I had more than 6,000 euros in my account, half of it if I’m staying for free. Luckily, my cousin who lives in France vouched for it.”
At the moment, Alaedine Ayad is staying at the hotel through an association. She shares her room with two other young men who also fled the war in Ukraine. She explains that now she is “impossible” to return to Algeria.
“Leaving Ukraine, I invested everything. My father even sold his car to finance my doctorate, he wanted to offer me a better life. Leaving Ukraine, we lost everything. I will not find myself empty-handed. Because if I go back to Algeria my dream ends.”
Source: BFM TV
