An illegal migrant from Africa who had a deportation order is suspected of stabbing three women on the Paris metro on Friday in what appears to be another example of the French immigration system failing to protect the public.
A Malian migrant was arrested on Friday evening after three women were attacked on the number 3 line of the Parisian metro system between 4:15 and 4:45 pm local time.
Thankfully, the lives of the three victims are not in danger as their wounds were superficial. However, the 25-year-old African should not have been in the country had authorities performed their duty, reports indicate.
According to Le Figaro, citing sources from within the Paris prosecutor’s office, the illegal from Mali was previously imprisoned last year for aggravated theft and sexual assault.
He was released in July and was issued with a OQTF deportation orders, yet nearly half a year later, has still not been removed from the country.
Following the attack on Friday, an investigation into attempted murder has been opened by the Regional Transport Security Service (SRT), which is reportedly not currently considering terrorism as a motivating factor. The suspect is believed to be “mentally unstable”.
The incident appears to be the latest case in which a migrant with an OQTF “Obligation de Quitter le Territoire Français” deportation order has gone on to further victimise innocent members of the public.
The system came under heavy scrutiny following last year’s killing of Philippine Le Noir de Carlan, a 19-year-old student in Paris. The suspect in the case, a Moroccan migrant, had been previously issued with an OQTF order after having been jailed for rape but authorities had failed to remove him before the killing of Philippine.
The government has long struggled to carry out deportation orders, with many migrants arriving in the country after having either discarded or destroyed their identity paperwork.
According to analysis from Le Figaro, just 9,160 of the 134,000 OQTF orders were carried out in 2022, good for a successful removal rate of just 6.9 per cent.
Unsurprisingly, there is widespread appetite in France for a reform of the status quo. A survey taken earlier this year found that nearly nine in ten French voters would support a system in which those issued with deportation orders were remanded in jail until they are removed from the country.
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