Louise Bernard and Solene Delinger
modified to
2:45 p.m., September 07, 2022
France has refused a visa to a Syrian journalist who worked for French media. Hussam Hammoud, who works regularly with Mediapart, notably reported on the abuses committed in his country by the jihadists of the terrorist group Islamic State. On Europe 1, he confides his disappointment and explains that he would now like to know the reasons for this refusal.
France has refused a visa to a Syrian journalist, Hussam Hammoud, originally from Raqqa. He works regularly for international media, including French media, notably Mediapart. He carried out sensitive investigations around the Islamic State and notably contributed to revealing very important documents which belonged to Daesh, discovered in Raqqa.
“I provided a lot of information to France through my articles”
These documents, once the report was shot, were entrusted to the French anti-terrorist justice system. All his precious work earned him death threats and he then had to leave his country to take refuge in Turkey with his wife and two children aged 3 and 5. He then applied for a “humanitarian visa” for France. But, on Monday, Hussam Hammoud learned that she was refused.
Our collaborator, Hussam Hammoud, who currently lives in exile in Turkey, had applied for a so-called “humanitarian” visa in order to be able to apply for asylum in France with his family. But he received a typical rejection email. An abomination.https://t.co/ckjnyIJrHbpic.twitter.com/KCjPStn9fh
— Mediapart (@Mediapart) September 6, 2022
A shock for him and for the French journalists with whom he worked. They mobilized on Twitter or by writing in their newspapers to denounce the injustice. “I would not say that I am angry with France, but perhaps rather disappointed and for several reasons. I consider that I wrote a lot and provided a lot of information through my articles for France”, confides Hussam Hammoud at the microphone of Europe 1.
“I have the right to an explanation”
A situation all the more complicated to accept that he still receives death threats today and that he risks being sent back to Syria at any time. Hussam Hammoud had however had talks at the French Embassy in Ankara to explain his situation. He only got a simple email as a response. “In the email they sent me, there was no reason mentioned. Obviously, I’m trying to get information, explanations to find out why my visa was refused. It’s really the most important for me. Now, when I see that my visa is refused after all that I have provided as information to France, I think I have the right to an explanation”, he believes.
Journalist Hala Kodmani said in Release : “One would like to believe that the holidays of the most knowledgeable persons in charge of the Syrian situation at the Ministry of the Interior are the cause of a bureaucratic refusal in the middle of August. A decision endangering the life of a young journalist committed against terrorism is it not reversible?