Moroccan Man on Hunger Strike Hospitalized in France Amid Deportation Threat

Since mid-September, Ahmed and Florence, with whom he married in January 2020, have been observing a hunger strike in the hope of obtaining an appointment with the Préfecture of Doubs. "We drink tea, coffee, sometimes broths," Florence specifies to France info. On Wednesday, her husband suffered a dizzy spell after swallowing a piece of sugar. "He had a drop in blood pressure, but his blood sugar was not bad," the forty-year-old recounts. The next day, her husband was hospitalized at the Besançon University Hospital and has already returned home.

Despite this dizziness, the couple is not giving up the hunger strike. Ahmed’s request for regularization - who has received a permanent contract offer in a construction company - has been repeatedly rejected. "We had filed an appeal before the legal tribunal, but we received a negative response on June 15 last. The other solution was to return to Morocco to apply for a visa there. But the procedures are very long and his application can very well be refused," explains Florence. The prefecture has still not agreed to receive the couple. "It weighs on the mind. If the prefect agreed to receive us, he would see in front of him two human beings who only ask to remain together. We would like to explain our common project to him."

Ahmed and Florence are not doing well with this situation. "It’s getting harder and harder, especially since I was very afraid for my husband. That didn’t help. But we can’t stop now, we have to keep going." "My two children support us. My parents and the rest of my family are worried. Ahmed’s dizziness has awakened fear in our entourage," continues the forty-year-old.