France: Guinean man who risked his life to stop a fire faces deportation
Lancine Konate, a Guinean man who was hailed as a hero in 2022 for risking his life to save people from a fire in the French city of Rennes, now reportedly faces deportation.
Mediapart, an online French newspaper, has reported that Konate's attempts to obtain a residence permit have failed.
In February, the prefecture issued Konate an obligation to leave French territory, known as an OQTF order.
Since July, he has been detained at the administrative detention centre in Vincennes, in the Paris region.
"This situation scares me a lot. I don't understand why I'm here," Konate told Mediapart from his cell.
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"They said I was a hero, even the police officers told me that if it were up to them, they would give me the papers. And today, they are doing this to me?"
Konate's detention has been extended several times, despite the judge acknowledging that he poses no threat to public order and has no prior convictions.
On 15 July 2022, Konate, then 29 years old, risked his life to rescue residents from a fire in an apartment building. He climbed the building with his bare hands and tried to stop the flames before the firefighters arrived.
"We had just played soccer. We heard a big boom... When I saw the flames on the balcony and heard screams, I didn’t ask myself any questions. I climbed up. I went inside, threw water on the flames and cut the power before the firefighters arrived," he told a local newspaper after the incident.
Konate sustained burns and injuries to his left hand and leg, which led to him losing his job.
After images of his heroic act went viral, Konate hoped his status as an undocumented immigrant would be regularised and filed a request at the beginning of the year.
In recent years, several foreigners in France have been granted residence permits or even naturalised after acts of bravery, often through decisions made by prefectures or the interior ministry.
An example of this is Mamoudou Gassama, who was granted citizenship after rescuing a child dangling from a fourth-floor balcony in Paris in 2018.
La France veut expulser Lancine Konaté, héros d’un incendie à Rennes en 2022 https://t.co/sbXbTqTCDi pic.twitter.com/j0YZdidBhM
— @hatchepsout.bsky.social🇪🇺 ⏚ 🇵🇸 (@Hatshepsouts) September 17, 2024
Translation: "France wants to expel Lancine Konate, the hero of a fire in Rennes in 2022."
Konate told Mediapart that the prefecture never contacted him after the fire to help him gain legal status in the country.
The chief of staff for Rennes' mayor, who met with Konate in June 2023 and provided support, told Mediapart that the prefecture offered a "laconic response", informing the municipality that Konate was "under an OQTF order enforceable until December 2023".
"We received him quickly because I did not understand how he was there after what had happened. But basically, this case is added to the others that the prefecture, like all prefectures, manages without having much regard for the reality of each of these people," the municipal official told Mediapart.
Neither the prefecture nor the interior ministry responded to the newspaper’s questions.
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