Macron once campaigned for Ramy Shaath's freedom. Now he wants to deport him

Macron once campaigned for Ramy Shaath's freedom. Now he wants to deport him Submitted by Alex MacDonald on Thu, 05/21/2026 - 09:49 The Palestinian-Egyptian academic and organiser faces deportation from France over his Gaza activism Palestinian-Egyptian activist Rami Shaath in Paris on 27 January 2022 (Joel Sagat/AFP) Off In January 2022, Ramy Shaath arrived in Paris after spending 900 days in an Egyptian prison. Forced to renounce his Egyptian nationality upon being freed, the Palestinian academic and organiser was greeted at the airport by his French wife and cheers from supporters. “I share the relief of his wife,” wrote French President Emmanuel Macron, who had pushed his counterpart, Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, for Shaath's release. “Thank you to everyone who has played a positive role in this happy outcome.” Cut to four years later and Shaath is facing deportation from France as a "serious threat to public order". On Thursday, he is set to appear before a deportation committee in Nanterre – where he lives – which will assess whether he should be removed from France.  The decision will only be advisory, however, and the authorities can choose to ignore it. "They cannot send me back to Gaza; one, because it's a war zone and because I am targeted by the Israelis ," Shaath, who was born in the besieged enclave, told Middle East Eye. "And in both cases, European law will not allow them to send me to Palestine. And of course, I know more Egyptians, but they cannot send me to Egypt." He said there was a possibility that they could send him to a third country – "so I could find myself in Liberia or Gambia" – but he suspects that he will instead be left in ...

Original source: Middle East Eye