French police arrested a 29-year-old Palestinian after he allegedly threatened officials at the Bordeaux branch of the Office for Immigration and Integration.
The 29-year-old is suspected of repeatedly threatening to kill immigration officials and was arrested on Monday. He reportedly had been angered that his residency requests were rejected.
According to a report from the French newspaper Sud Ouest, the Palestinian has a history of making death threats towards officials at immigration and integration staff, reportedly also having threatened officials in Lyon and Pau several months before.
The newspaper also claims that the 29-year-old was subject to a search warrant for alleged crimes committed in Lyon.
In February, another asylum seeker in Pau who was also angry about not having his asylum claim approved he stabbed a 46-year-old reception facility official to death.
The 38-year-old Sudanese man stabbed the official three times, with one of the wounds piercing the throat.
French Interior Minister Gérald Darmamin pledged at the time to visit the site of the murder, saying: “I extend my sincere condolences to the victim’s family and loved ones.”
François Bayrou, the mayor of Pau, added: “This is a terrible tragedy, all the more appalling because the victim has committed himself all his professional life to the defence of migrants and those who apply for asylum; all the more appalling also because the assailant, the murderer, went to prison for assault, apparently with a knife.”
Over the last several years, there have been a number of cases of migrants threatening death or going on to commit murder after having their asylum claims rejected.
In April, an Iraqi in Greece threatened to set his own wife and child on fire at a migrant reception centre after his claim was rejected for a second time.
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