The man suspected of having carried out the attack at the Gambetta-Carnot high school on Friday is a 20-year-old young man born in the Russian Caucasus and arrived in France at the age of 5. Without a residence permit, he was not subject to an expulsion order.
Why was Mohammed M., suspected of being the author of the terrorist knife attack committed at the Gambetta-Carnot high school in Arras (Pas-de-Calais), on Friday, not expelled, while Was he in an irregular situation? The question arises on Saturday October 14, the day after the death of a teacher who was stabbed within the establishment, where this main suspect, a 20-year-old man, was himself a student. Born in Ingushetia, a Republic of the Russian Federation, neighboring Chechnya and with a Muslim majority, he arrived in France in 2008, at the age of 5, with his parents and his four brothers and sisters.
His family first settled near Rennes (Ille-et-Vilaine), where the children went to school. Then the parents filed an asylum request, which was refused to the father by the Ille-et-Vilaine prefecture. The family was then subject to a collective expulsion procedure to Moscow at the beginning of 2014. But associations took action against this decision and the prefecture backed down.
“They stepped up to the plate with my teamreported on Saturday at Telegramthe former Minister of the Interior, Manuel Valls. My office then examined the file and considered that this expulsion did not comply with the so-called Valls circular. The family had in fact been on French soil for more than five years and the children, one of whom was very young, were in school and spoke French.” When Mohammed M. arrived in Arras, he was 12 years old. Their father was finally expelled from France in 2018, Gérald Darmanin said on Friday evening. Saturday, during a press briefing, the Minister of the Interior requested the“systematic expulsion of any foreigner (…) considered dangerous by the intelligence services”.
An asylum request refused upon reaching the age of majority
Until he reaches the age of majority, Mohammed M. therefore lives legally on French territory. Because in France, no minor can be subject to expulsion. “They are the only foreigners who cannot be absolutely deported”, reminds franceinfo Stéphane Maugendre, lawyer and former president of the Immigrant Information and Support Group (Gisti). When he came of age, in 2021, the young man applied for asylum, in order to regularize his situation. But the French Office for the Protection of Refugees and Stateless Persons (Ofpra), as well as the National Court of Asylum (CNDA), refused him, as confirmed by a police source to franceinfo, without specifying the reasons for this end of non-receipt.
“Why was this request for a residence permit refused? That’s the whole question.”
Stéphane Maugendre, lawyerat franceinfo
This residence permit, “he had the right to do so”, however, observes Stéphane Maugendre. In fact, because he arrived in France before he was 13, and there “usually resides”Mohammed M. cannot “be subject to an expulsion order” only under certain conditions, under article L631-3 of the Code of entry and stay of foreigners and the right to asylum (Ceseda). For example, “in the event of behavior likely to harm the fundamental interests of the State”or even if he has “activities of a terrorist nature”or actions “constituting acts of provocation”, “to hatred or violence”. To justify such behavior, “elements of administrative and/or judicial value are required”points out a police source to franceinfo.
“Not known for his radicalization” at that time
In addition, recalls this police source, since the start of the war in Ukraine, at the end of February 2022, France has stopped expulsions to Russia. Above all, she says, the main suspect in the attack committed in Arras “was not known for his radicalization at the time he applied for a residence permit”. However, Julie Duhamel, Pas-de-Calais departmental secretary of the Unsa teaching union, said Friday on franceinfo “that there had been a file put together by the teaching team regarding his radicalization a few years ago now”when Mohammed M. was attending Gambetta-Carnot high school.
“If there is a risk of disturbing public order, the Ministry of the Interior may expel a foreigner, even if he arrived in France before the age of 13, in accordance with the procedure “, notes Stéphane Maugendre. This notably involves going before a commission, underlines the lawyer. “All it takes is a blank note of information”, he argues. However, Mohammed M. was the subject of active monitoring by the General Directorate of Internal Security (DGSI), with wiretapping and physical surveillance.
According to information from France Télévisions, this man was registered in the report processing file for the prevention of terrorist radicalization. But it was only since July 30 that he was listed as S, with more active surveillance by the DGSI. However, being on S file does not mean being constantly monitored. It is only a category, which does not give the possibility of arresting someone or deporting them. Thus, Mohammed M. had been checked by the police on Thursday, the day before the attack, reported Gérald Darmanin, without any offense being held against him. There is no “there was no failure of the intelligence services”, insisted the Minister of the Interior on Saturday.