In Toulouse, a young migrant arrested and threatened with expulsion two hours after saving a man
Mouaz Moukhtar, an irregular migrant, came to save a delivery man when he was detained. Despite this act of bravery, he risks being deported to Chad. The prefect of Haute-Garonne asked for “a specific point” on this situation.
“In two hours, I went from being a hero to being an outcast, now threatened with expulsion!” Last Wednesday, Mouaz Moukhtar, a young man from Chad experienced a most intense day from an emotional point of view.
Arrived in Toulouse in 2019 to study geography, the 24-year-old student works in parallel within the company Rentrée Discount in Toulouse in order to support himself. Once he graduated, he wanted to work in town planning, but his first year at the University of Toulouse didn’t go as hoped. “Due to the Covid and distance learning, this first year was complicated. I missed it, I think that’s why my residence permit was not renewed.”
At the beginning of 2022, in order to be able to continue to work in the company, he falsifies his certificate of request for extension of his residence permit: April 18, the date on which he must have left French territory, becomes October 18. “I changed the dates on the receipt. I did not calculate the risks. As I am going to second year, I hope for a quick and positive response from the prefecture.”
This falsification will have significant repercussions: on July 20, three police officers will arrest Mouaz in his company before taking him to the police station and then to the Cornebarrieu detention center. There are 48 hours left. They do not know that the young man has just saved a life.
“The Samu told us that we had saved his life”
That same day, around 7 a.m., a delivery man got out of his truck and felt unwell in front of the company Rentrée Discount. While the team leader calls the emergency services, Mouaz and one of his colleagues stay with the man and try to resuscitate him.
“The gentleman was not breathing. The Samu assisted us by telephone so that we did a cardiac massage. We stayed with him for twelve minutes until the firefighters arrived. At one point, he regained consciousness and grabbed his hand. Samu told us that we had saved his life.” Does this act of bravery facilitate the renewal of Mouaz’s residence permit? The appeal of the decision of the administrative court should take place soon.
“This young man is well integrated in France. He has an important support committeea home, income, and a tax form, he therefore has a chance of seeing his application successful,” said Elfried Dupuy-Chabin, one of his lawyers at the Toulouse Bar. When asked, the prefecture indicated that “the prefect asked for a precise point of the situation”.