The fight of Alia, Tunisian and lesbian, to stay in France after a life of violence
Alia, a young Tunisian national, is under an obligation to leave French territory. However, she risked serious violence if she were to return to her country of origin. The young woman and her spouse have been fighting for four years to have her situation recognized by the Pas-de-Calais prefecture.
“What serious thing have I done? The prefecture itself recognizes that I present no danger. For 5 years I have been fighting, there is no reason to put me through all that. do I do if they put me on the plane? If my life was so good there, why would I stay 5 years without seeing my mother? Something is going to happen to me there. Alia* is only 29 years old, but she is exhausted. Of Tunisian nationality, this young woman came to France in 2017 on the initiative of her ex-spouse, binational.
*The identities of witnesses have been changed for their protection.
Very quickly, Alia is the victim of serious domestic violence. She recounts physical abuse, such as jostling or belt blows, but also psychological hell. While the young woman has been violent and abused in the family sphere, her partner regularly threatens to send her back to her country of origin, going so far as to buy her a plane ticket.
Alia lives in France with a long-term visa like “French spouse” : his residence permit is directly linked to his marital status. The young woman is trapped.
I did not know anyone. I was locked up with him in the apartment, I was only allowed to go out to Cora, or to his mother’s
Other
“Once, I said hello to an elderly woman in the street, my ex-husband said to me: you, you speak with nobody. I am the one who says to whom you speak.”
After a particularly violent argument, she ends up running away and goes to the police station near her home. Her complaint will lead to nothing, but she is welcomed into a home for victims of domestic violence. The workers at the home help her to apply for regularization, and Alia begins training as a cleaner to find a job.
“On July 18, 2018, the prefecture sent me a recommendation asking me to bring evidence of domestic violence. However, the home, when I arrived, they had seen the marks of blows.” The young woman, long isolated, struggles to provide additional evidence. After a first refusal, she nevertheless manages to contact the first wife of her husband, herself a victim of violence. This produces two handrails, dated 2016. One bears the motif “hurt/threat”and the other simply indicates a “dispute between spouses”. A new file is submitted, with the help of the home, a year later.
Meanwhile, in the women’s shelter, Alia meets someone who will change her life: her company for 4 years, Stéphanie*. “She was a friend, we were roommates, her children got to play with me. Then I understood that I had feelings, and it lasts until today”, says the young woman shyly.
Everything seems to be on the right track again when, on June 18, 2020, the Pas-de-Calais prefecture sends a new letter. Despite the elements added to her file on the aspect of domestic violence, and the support of the home, Alia receives an Obligation to Leave French Territory (OQTF).
Yet her relationship poses a new threat to her in her home country.
Already here, when people see me with my girlfriend, sometimes they insult me. My ex-husband told everyone I was a lesbian. I’m too afraid.
“To see the people who raped me again, let everyone know that I am with a woman. I only live in fear”, Alia confides, her voice trembling.
In Tunisia, article 230 of the penal code, written in 1913, provides for up to three years in prison for consensual same-sex relations between adults. In 2020 again, two young men aged 26 were convicted for this reason. They had been subjected to an anal test carried out by a medical examiner, in order to establish “evidence”. This law, and the degrading practices associated with it, are set out by associations for the defense of human rights. In addition to being threatened by the law, LGBT+ people are also victims of medical violence, LGBTphobic attacks and understanding within families, particularly in more rural areas.
Alia and her company refuse to give up the fight, prepare once again another file, a new request, by a new way. The young refugee aspires to only two things: to be able to settle down and work in France, to support her home. On January 20, 2022, finally, the good news fell: Alia’s request for regularization was accepted, her situation was normalized at least until August. But the receipt does not authorize her to work, which the young woman wants to see evaluated. “So I asked for a receipt with a work permit, maybe they didn’t like it.”
Because on March 29, everything changed once again. Alia and Stéphanie say that they are contacted by telephone, and that Alia’s presence is required at the prefecture, to deliver her updated receipt. However, on the spot, the agent of the prefecture takes her passport, and her receipt, documents that the young refugee has still not recovered. There, and while she is supposed to be protected for another five months, Alia finally receives a new OQTF, accompanied by a ban on returning to French territory.
Despite the documented risks for homosexuals in Tunisia, and the domestic violence suffered, the prefectural authority considers in its decision that “provides no element allowing prejudgment of humanitarian circumstances”.
The Fiertés Pas-de-Calais association undertakes to help Alia in her fight. “She was advised to file several complaints, first for the assaults suffered by her ex-husband. We have evidence of sexual violence, rape, domestic violence, perpetrators of conversations. It is inconceivable to let go this, that it can be closed without further action. And I do not understand the response of the prefecture which considers these elements insufficient, all of this is still serious!” indignant Romain Hecquet.
“The impromptu decision of the prefecture to proceed with the expulsion of Madam, that too, we do not understand it, there is no justification. We contacted the prefecture to have a proof concerning this order of expulsion, he continues. This lady did not come to get papers, she tried to fit in, to learn, to work. She’s been in a relationship with another person, a woman, for over 3 years and her ex-boyfriend put her there.”
Sending her back to a country highly at risk for LGBT+ people is inconceivable. The French state would send him to his death, I don’t think that’s the values of our Republic.
Romain Hecquet, Pas-de-Calais Pride
Asked about the details of its decision, the revisions of the file and the version presented by Alia, the prefecture refuses to justify itself. “We never communicate on individual cases. Madame (…) has filed an appeal with the Lille administrative court, this appeal will be heard very soon. Obviously, we will apply the court decision that will be taken” indicated the prefectural services.