Moroccan Father of Two Deported After 24 Years in France, Leaving Family Behind

Hassan Youssefi had been the subject of an expulsion order since December 2024 and was expelled to Morocco on February 21, 2025 after the entry into force of the Darmanin law. This Moroccan national, who had been residing regularly in the commune of Anchenoncourt-et-Chazel in Haute-Saône for 24 years, is a repeat offender. He had been the subject of 13 convictions and served a total of six years in prison.

The family man was expelled without saying goodbye to his children, two 13-year-old twins. The two minors, as well as their mother, Catherine Geth, now live in an alarming situation of precariousness. "His expulsion puts us in a difficult moment. I am on disability [due to heart problems], he was working and had a scrap metal business. He was the one who supported us. We were not rich, but we lived. Now we don’t know how we’re going to heat up or eat, we even went to the Restos du Cœur," she confides to France 3 Franche-Comté.

"It’s a moving and shocking case. The family has suffered these things because of shortcomings in the administration. Now, he is homeless in a country where he no longer has any ties," laments Me Anne-Sophie Mang, the family’s lawyer. In Morocco for a month, Hassan Youssefi does not yet have any income to take care of his family left in Haute-Saône. For now, he is content to keep in touch with them by phone. Meanwhile, the family is trying to survive on Catherine’s disability pension of just over 300 euros.

"They destroyed everything, they took everything away from us. It’s as if he were the worst terrorist. I hope the administrative judge is more humane than the [Haute-Saône] prefect. We’ve been in love for 16 years, without wanting to get married, and we’re going to have to do it," says the mother, who denounces the racism her children have been victims of since their father’s expulsion. "My daughter told me that a friend of hers had told her ’go back to your country’. My two children had to justify themselves in the face of lies, like the fact that their father would be in prison for thefts, it revolts me."

Hassan Youssefi’s partner assures that the Moroccan "has been treated of his addictions for a long time" and asks "more humanity from justice." "If we had to expel all the people who drink and smoke in Haute-Saône, there wouldn’t be many left." Catherine Geth and her lawyer are pleading for the return of Hassan Youssefi to France as soon as possible. "The multiple convictions and prison stays are antithetical to integration into society," the Haute-Saône prefecture said for its part.