The bottle swallowed up, Mina, 4 months old, falls asleep in the arms of her mother, Juliette, under the tender gaze of Arshad
(all names have been changed)
.
He remembers the complicated delivery of his partner who had a hemorrhage.
The 20-year-old Afghan boy held his daughter in his arms all night.
He was the one who gave the first bottle, the first bath.
It is again he who, since his partner returned to work at the end of June, in a town near Rennes (Ille-et-Vilaine), takes care of Mina every day, takes her for a walk "when he is not doing it. too hot ”and enjoys each of his little laughs.
Yet, in the eyes of the law, he is not her father.
Mina is only allowed to bear the name of her mother, who is French.
“It hurts my heart,” Arshad modestly confides.
All his requests for recognition of paternity made before and after childbirth were in fact refused by the administration.
Why?
Because this asylum seeker, who arrived in France when he was only 16, cannot officially prove his identity.
Since the Asylum and Immigration Law of 2018, you must produce the original of your national identity card, passport or residence permit.
According to the circular of March 20, 2019, these provisions are intended to fight against fraudulent recognition of paternity and maternity, estimated at 577 in 2016. In particular from French men who, by transmitting their nationality to children, would thus allow foreign women, in an irregular situation, to benefit from a residence permit.
But also those of men who, by becoming the parent of a French child, can obtain the same sesame.
"These situations will multiply"
"I did not make a baby for the papers but because we wanted to start a family", defends Arshad who obtained a CAP masonry.
In the region, four couples encountered similar difficulties, according to the Rennes Undocumented Support Collective.
As the measure is relatively recent, it is impossible to assess the phenomenon at national level.
“These situations remain rare for the moment but they will multiply,” predicts Lisa Carayon, lecturer in law at Sorbonne-Paris-Nord University and member of Cimade and Gisti, two associations helping immigrants.
"This law is particularly detestable and ultimately only targets foreign or marginalized men," she denounces.
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Presenting an identity document is not at all an obstacle to fraudulent recognition on the part of French men.
Even though controls already exist a posteriori in the event of doubt about the filiation, Lisa Carayon drives the point home: “We sacrifice children by depriving them of a father, alimony or inheritance.
"