Thionville. After 3 years of struggle, Abdoulaye Diallo, Guinean cook, finally obtains his French residence permit

It is a story of men as there are beautiful ones. That of a boss who has become more than a boss and an employee who has become more than an employee. Between Bruno Clément and Abdoulaye Diallo, it is even a story of friendship, built in parallel with a three-year obstacle course to obtain papers for the young refugee of 26 years, disembarked from Guinea in 2017.

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From exile outside Guinea to permanent contracts in France

When we had met them in August 2018, the boss of the Moulins Bleus had just hired the young man on an extra contract as a kitchen attendant, even though he did not yet have official papers. His “Grail”, Abdoulaye Diallo finally obtained it on June 13, 2021, when the Prefecture of Moselle officially awarded him a residence permit on French territory.

Nothing would have happened without the risks taken by his boss, without these Good Samaritans who came to join his cause and, of course, without the motivation of the principal concerned. Despite a chaotic migratory route to Europe, an exile far from his family, the Parisian galleys and the misery of the homes, Abdoulaye Diallo never gave up.

Landed in Thionville, a city chosen for its human size after Forbach and Hayange, his extra contract in his pocket, it was still necessary to redouble our efforts in the face of the twists and turns of the French administration. “It’s discouraging, we are not doing anything to help you”, remembers Bruno Clément. If Guineans are among the first nationalities detected at the borders, France considers that this is essentially an economic migration and does not offer them political asylum.

In 2019, faced with administrative imbroglios, Bruno Clément called on Renée Bail, a friend with a well-stocked address book. In the summer of 2019, the Guinean obtained a work permit on French territory. But it is short-lived. In the process, Bruno Clément hired him on a permanent contract. A “symbol” for Abdoulaye Diallo.

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Allow yourself to think about the future

The rest, the young man knows it by heart. The dates are etched in her head forever. The following summer, thanks to the Valls circular, with Bruno Clément, he sent a new file. “I had been in France for three years and I had twenty-four payslips, I could claim a regularization through work that could lead to a residence permit”, explains the new 1is party leader of the Moulins Bleus brigade.

In November 2020, he was informed that his file was complete. “There, it was a sigh of relief. »April 2021, we give him an appointment to take his fingerprints. And on May 11, Abdoulaye Diallo leaves the Prefecture of Moselle, a receipt authorizing him to work in his hands. “A great burden went away, I felt a new man. “

The residence permit was not long in coming. “Now I can start to live, to think about the future. “Towards his boss, he feels infinitely grateful:” I can only thank him by working. Let him be happy with me, that’s all I want. “Accomplice, Bruno Clément smiles:” Abdoulaye Diallo is my icing on the cake. “

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