While he wants to return to France where he has lived since 1982, Moroccan director Ali Essafi is currently stuck in Senegal, where he had gone to participate in the Dakar Art Biennale. While he has lost his residence card, the French consulate in this country closes its doors to him and treats him like… a nobody.
He was to return to France on Thursday May 26, only Moroccan director Ali Essafi still cannot leave Senegal, where he arrived on May 19. The day before he left, he lost his residence card, which he “looked for everywhere, in vain”. In a confidence to Atlas Courier, he says: “As the next day was Ascension Thursday, I waited until Friday to go to the French Embassy. But I was not allowed to enter the premises”.
Recounting his misadventure which is far from knowing its epilogue, Ali Essafi deplores: “I had explained my case to them, they repeated to me that it was necessary to make an appointment before”. Seeing himself obliged to comply, he contacts “Visa France Senegal”, the private company in charge of visa applications on behalf of the French Embassy in Senegal, a manager explains to him that he will have to follow the usual procedure. Which ended up annoying him. “I am treated like anyone who wants to go to France for the first time,” he said.
Yet, he insists, “I have been a permanent resident for 40 years in a country where I pay my taxes and where I take care of my 7-year-old daughter who does not understand why her dad does not come home. “. In addition to brandishing the threat of filing a complaint once morest the French state, the Moroccan director has an idea to solve this situation for good. “I’m going to apply for my French nationality, because I no longer want to take the risk of being separated from my daughter”.
To read : Senegal: France modifies its drastic visa policy