Abdalmasih H., a 31-year-old Syrian refugee, had obtained an asylum application in 2013, in Sweden. Last fall, he went to Annecy, where he filed a new asylum application.
The emotion is still strong after the knife attack which occurred near Lake Annecy (Haute-Savoie), Thursday, June 8, and which left six injured, including four children aged 22 to 36 months. The investigation is still ongoing regarding the profile of the assailant, but several politicians have begun to raise questions about the migratory journey of this 31-year-old Syrian. “There were failures, (…) he was not in a regular situation”was indignant on Friday the boss of the National Rally group in the Assembly, Marine Le Pen, on Europe 1. There is “a catastrophic management of asylum in Europe”added at the same time Eric Ciotti, the president of the Republicans, on France 2. Here is what we know about the trajectory of Abdalmasih H., still in police custody on Friday afternoon.
Refugee status in Sweden since 2013
Abdalmasih H., born in 1991, calls himself a Christian from the East and has shouted in English “in the name of Jesus Christ” during the attack. After serving in the Syrian army, this man left his country in 2011 at the start of the civil war, his mother told AFP. He entered Turkey illegally, met his future wife there, a compatriot, and the couple settled in Sweden. Abdalmasih H. was then granted asylum there in 2013 and lived in the southwest of the country for ten years. According to the Swedish Migration Authority, he has repeatedly failed to obtain Swedish citizenship since 2017.
This father of a 3-year-old child separated from his partner last fall. His ex-wife told AFP that Abdalmasih H. had left Sweden because he was unable to obtain Swedish citizenship. “We separated because I didn’t want to leave Sweden”, she confided on the phone. This departure took place “eight months ago”still according to the young woman.
A refusal of an asylum application in France
Eight months ago, Abdalmasih H. arrived in France, in Annecy. From the point of view of European Union law, the man was then in a regular situation, since France, like Sweden, is part of the Schengen area. A refugee can stay in any country in this area for a period of three months (beyond that, he needs a visa), unless his asylum application is being examined. The assailant is “regularly entered France thanks to his refugee status obtained in Sweden”confirmed on Twitter Camille Chaize, spokesperson for the Ministry of the Interior. “For reasons that are not well explained, he also applied for asylum in Switzerland, Italy and France”also reported the Minister of the Interior, Gérald Darmanin, on TF1.
On October 27, 2022, the man actually filed an asylum application with the French Office for the Protection of Refugees and Stateless Persons (Ofpra). The latter was recorded at the end of November. “He remained regularly on our soil as an asylum seeker during the time of the examination of his asylum application”, adds the spokesperson for the Ministry of the Interior. After studying the file, on April 26, the Ofpra declared this request inadmissible, Abdalmasih H. having already obtained refugee status in Sweden. This refusal is notified to him on June 4, that is to say last Sunday. Was the suspect still in a regular situation after being notified of the Ofpra’s refusal? “He was within the time limit to appeal, since he has a month”replies the Ministry of the Interior to franceinfo, specifying that this call had not been made at the time of the attack.
However, “he no longer benefited from the right to remain on the territory with regard to a decision of inadmissibility by the Ofpra”recall on Twitter public law professor Serge Slama, who relies on article L542-2 of the Code for the entry and stay of foreigners and the right to asylum. Abdalmasih H. was therefore theoretically deportable from French territory. But for the administration, the deadline turned out to be a bit short. “A request for readmission to the Swedish authorities could be made, at best, from June 8, the date on which the decision of inadmissibility rendered by the Ofpra was notified to the prefectureexplains the Ministry of the Interior to franceinfo. The execution of the readmission decision would nevertheless have required the prior agreement of Sweden. In any case, the implementation of this procedure would have taken several days.”
A precarious situation in Annecy
Abdalmasih H., “a political refugee who would be homeless”, was not “neither under the influence of narcotics nor under the influence of alcohol” at the time of the facts, declared the prosecutor of Annecy, Line Bonnet-Mathis, in front of the press, Thursday. His name did not appear in any police file, he was not known “of no intelligence service” and did not “identified psychiatric history”according to the Prime Minister, Elisabeth Borne, who went there.
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Several testimonies report the precariousness of the suspect in recent weeks. “In the evening, he arrived at 6 p.m., he made his bed on a cardboard box, he brushed his teeth and he slept”tells a resident of France 2. Last Sunday, the suspect was checked by the police because “he would have washed in Lake Annecy”also specified Gérald Darmanin on TF1. “A handrail was made and there was nothing particularly to complain about.” That same Sunday, four days before his act, Abdalmasih H. learns that his asylum application has been refused. A “disturbing coincidence”, for the Minister of the Interior.
According to the suspect’s mother, interviewed by AFP, the man suffered from a “serious depression” and these refusals aggravated his condition. “We know that, among migrants, there is a greater risk of developing psychiatric disorders. This is linked to psychosocial factors which have their roots in their country of origin and which develop in the country of origin. ‘arrival”analysis for the press agency specialized psychiatrist Andrea Tortelli. “The non-reception policy weakens them and increases the psychological vulnerability of these people.”