Petition Launched for Residence Permit of Algerian Hero Facing Deportation in France

Yassine Bencheniti and his family, housed until spring by the 115, are subject to a ban on residence called "Obligation to leave French territory" (OQTF) after the rejection of their asylum application. This is a situation that the person concerned cannot understand. "The 115 is going to kick me out soon. My wife is pregnant. We will have a baby in a month. And I can’t go back to Algeria. It’s very difficult," he said bitterly, reports Le Parisien.

Yassine Bencheniti is very worried about returning to his country, Algeria, since he has been threatened with death there. Today, he is asking for the help of the French state. "I saved a person from suicide. I was injured in the arm and back during this rescue. I ask France to lend me a hand," he said. Yassine dreams of becoming a taxi driver; his wife has a degree in computer engineering. "We could work," he assures.

A petition addressed to the prefecture of the Loire has been launched to allow them to obtain a residence permit.

Aged 38, Yassine is an Algerian undocumented immigrant who arrived in France in 2018. He saved a woman who was threatening to jump from the 7th floor of her building in Saint-Etienne (Loire) just in time. It was May 23, 2019. It is a heroic gesture which, he hoped, would be recognized by the State, as was the case, for example, of the Malian, Mamadou Gassama, naturalized French after the miraculous rescue of a child. Yassine still hoped up to nine months later; but no gesture came in this sense from France.