By
Charlotte Oberti
Published on : 2021/02/19
Eight months after arriving in France, 10-year-old Fatimate from Côte d'Ivoire and her family were about to be deported back to Italy. Thanks to a protest by the girl's school, the deportation has been postponed. But it has not been cancelled.
Up until recently, Fatimate did not talk much to her fellow students about her unusual past. But then everything changed.
On February 8, the school that she attends -- the Fernand-Labori school in the 18th arrondissement (disctrict) of Paris -- rallied together to fight for her and her parents to prevent them from being deported to Italy, which was the first European country they entered. According to the Dublin regulation, they have to return there to undergo their asylum process. Since then, Fatimate has been attracting a lot more attention.