Foreign driver’s family expelled from France over farmer’s death
The husband remains in France awaiting trial, but his wife and three children have been deported
The family were deported last month, leaving France from Montpellier airport
David Ridley / Shutterstock
The deportation of an Armenian woman and her three children has been confirmed by French authorities, after a vehicle collision involving her husband killed a farmer and her 12-year old daughter in Ariège in January.
The information was confirmed by the Ariège prefecture yesterday (July 23).
The Armenian woman’s husband, who was driving their vehicle when the accident happened, has remained in France, where he is in detention and awaiting trial for manslaughter in relation to the incident.
Early in the morning of January 23, the Armenian man, who has not been named, was driving a vehicle with his wife and the eldest of his three children as his passengers.
Unaware of blockades being set up in the area, the man drove through a hay bale at high speed, hitting Alexandra Sonac, a 36-year old farmer near Pamiers (Ariège).
She was standing directly behind the bale and setting up a refreshment stand for people taking part in local farmer protests.
Mrs Sonac was pronounced dead at the scene, and her 12-year old daughter Camille, who was with her, died later in the day after being rushed to hospital.
Her husband Jean-Michel sustained serious injuries but was not killed.
The collision was thought to be an accident - however farmers had placed bollards and other barriers to block the road which the driver had either not noticed or dismissed. An alcohol and drug tests of the driver came back negative.
Family receives deportation order
The day after the incident, the Ariège prefecture issued a deportation order (Obligation de quitter le territoire français) for the man, his wife, and their adult child (the deportation of their two younger children is implied by the parents receiving the order).
Despite fleeing the scene of the accident, the family were caught, and although they contested the deportation, in March 2024 the administrative court in Toulouse upheld the order.
The husband and wife were already under the subject of a deportation order at the time of the accident, after a request for asylum in France was rejected in 2022.
The wife and three children were deported on June 21 to the Armenian capital Yerevan from Montpellier.
They were accompanied by local police from the Hérault department, national border police, and staff members from the director general for foreigners in France.
The husband has remained in France, and after his trial, will be transferred to a detention centre for foreign nationals who do not have the right to reside in France, if he is to face prison time in the country.
He will then be deported to Armenia after serving his sentence
The Armenian diaspora is one of the largest in France (although France does not keep official statistics on the ethnicities of immigrants), with many settling in the country in the early 20th century.
One of the most famous French-Armenians was singer Charles Aznavour.
Read more: Charles Aznavour: Grit and self-belief made the ‘French Frank Sinatra’
