France deports Moroccan father, leaving family in turmoil

Hassan Y., a 46-year-old Moroccan, was expelled from France after legally residing there for 24 years. A father of 13-year-old twins and partner to a French woman, he was deported to Morocco on February 21. His expulsion, justified by a criminal record with 13 convictions between 2005 and 2023, was carried out without allowing him to say goodbye to his family, La Voix du Nord reports.

According to the Haute-Saône prefecture, his convictions—totaling more than six years in prison—were deemed incompatible with integration into France. However, his lawyer, Anne-Sophie Mang, argues that he had always maintained legal residency, had started a scrap metal business, and was a homeowner with his partner in Anchenoncourt-et-Chazel.

His family describes the expulsion as brutal: «They tied him from the ankles to the waist, put a helmet with breathing holes on him, and kept him bent over for three hours during the flight», says Catherine Gueth, his partner. «The children didn’t even get to say goodbye», she laments.

Now in Morocco with no resources or connections, Hassan faces an uncertain future. His lawyer denounces a deportation based solely on his criminal record and raises concerns about a possible procedural error: a case was still pending before the administrative court of Besançon, yet the prefecture allegedly failed to inform the court of his detention.

«He was neither a terrorist, nor a rapist, nor a murderer. He served his sentences and paid his fines», insists Mang, who has sent a letter to the Minister of the Interior to challenge the decision. «Today, a family's life has been destroyed».