French baker ends hunger strike as apprentice rescued from eviction

Stéphane Ravacley, a baker from the city of Besançon, in eastern France, went on a hunger strike on January 3 to save his Guinean apprentice from deportation. Ravacley’s campaign ended in victory as the youngster has now obtained a French residence permit.

“Laye has his papers and he’s back to work on Tuesday!” said baker Stéphane Ravacley, who ended his hunger strike on Thursday.

Ravacley went 10 days without eating. After 8 days, he was admitted for a few hours to the emergency room of the hospital in the eastern city of Besançon after a collapse.

Ravacley has spent over a year training Laye Fodé Traoré in Besançon since being hired in September 2019 after arriving in France as an unaccompanied minor.

But after turning 18, the young Guinean was told he risked being sent back to his home country in West Africa.

The mayor of Besançon, Anne Vignot, wrote to the Minister of the Interior Gerald Darmanin asking that Traoré be allowed to stay in France, affirming in his letter that “the desire to expel this future baker is incomprehensible”.

Traoré also formally appealed against the deportation order.

Ravacley said he was informed by the regional prefecture that the appeal was successful and said the young man had “practically cried” upon hearing the news.

“It’s a great moment, a victory, and now we are going to fight for others in the same situation,” said the baker.

Vignot tweeted Thursday afternoon that Laye Fodé Traoré had been regularized by the regional prefecture.