Moroccan Liver Transplant Patient Faces Deportation from France Despite Medical Necessity

"I am not in France for economic immigration reasons, but out of necessity, my life depends on it," explains Karim Kafouni, after receiving the OQTF (obligation to leave French territory). After a first transplant at the Lille University Hospital in 2002, the Moroccan man in his fifties returned to his country. But the follow-up by local doctors is not "satisfactory". This situation forced him to make round trips between Morocco and France for 15 years to buy medications and have his check-ups, reports franceinfo. Unfortunately, he will be urgently evacuated after a rejection in 2017.

Hemorrhage on the plane, coma... Treated for five days in a hospital in Brussels, Karim will then be transferred to Lille, where he receives a second liver transplant in May 2017. "My doctor was worried and asked me what I was doing in Morocco. He told me it was a matter of life," he recounts. The former financial executive at the port of Casablanca then decides to settle in Villeneuve d’Ascq. A decision that was not "obvious", but "vital", he specifies. "My wife and three daughters stayed in Morocco, I miss them, but for my health, for my life, I cannot take the risk of returning to my country".

Since receiving the OQTF, Karim has been fighting to stay in France. He appeals to the administrative court of Lille, without success. He appeals to the appeal court of Douai and provides medical certificates that "attest that I must stay in France for my survival," he affirms. Another failure. According to the OQTF, "the patient’s health condition is good and he can benefit from appropriate follow-up care in his country of origin". But in Karim’s eyes, a return to Morocco would be detrimental to him. "I have a treatment that is adapted to my conditions. I am also diabetic, and after each of my doctor’s visits, my protocol changes. I also have anti-rejection medication that I cannot find in Morocco," he specifies.

After his OQTF and since the expiration of his temporary residence permit on April 22, the former treasurer of Transhépate (association of liver disease patients and transplant recipients) finds himself in a precarious situation: unable to work, loss of benefits... He has then undertaken administrative procedures - he requests an urgent meeting with the prefect, he contacts the mayor of Villeneuve d’Ascq - which prove unsuccessful. He now counts on the support of associations to avoid expulsion.