The 83-year-old Australian threatened with expulsion, could finally stay in France, “I’m relieved”

This is great news, and I’m relieved

“I’m relieved, “Brian explains,” It took over four hours to translate the document on the Internet. But, this is great news, I’m relieved. It is not easy to fund one year of social security because the VNF (Voice navigables de France) is asking the provincial council to ask me more. But I will pass this on one way or another.“

Thanks to everyone who mobilized for Brian, his friends, those in the town hall, but also Nancy, who is of New Zealand descent, especially those who helped with the translations.

We met Brian Griffin in December 2021 in Nancy. Brian has dual citizenship of Australia and New Zealand. He was an airline pilot at a large Australian company. He has been living in Europe for over 10 years. He went on a boat about five years ago. He has been staying at Nancy Harbor since December 2020.

On December 23, 2021, Christmas Eve, he received a registered letter dated December 17 from Nancy County ordering him to leave the area within 30 days. Brian had a residence card established in the UK in 2014. But Brexit passed there. The British left Europe. Paradoxically, last summer he made an official request to reside in France to regulate his situation. What he thought was just ritual turned into a real dream.

I am in the final stages of my life. Here, on my boat in France, I want to finish it, not at a dead end in New Zealand or Australia

Brian Griffin

In a December 2021 letter, for example, Prefecture told him that a trip to India between November 2019 and April 2020 would prevent him from staying in France. It was written that he did not mention any family ties in the region, that he did not work, and that he did not speak French. Then the pensioner is stunned. But he told us: “Fights, I led others. I fought against the Australian company that hired me as a pilot. I am in the final stages of my life. Here, on my boat in France, I want to finish it, not in New Zealand or Australia. I did not hurt anyone. I contribute to the economy by paying my taxes. I did not ask for anything. A quiet, stress-free life is ideal for me. I always want to do something on my boat. When good weather comes, I take care of my garden plant varieties“.

Brian bought a boat called the “Fidudia” in the Netherlands a few years ago.With the money of the case I won against my former employer“, He notes. “Fidutia” means faith in Latin. The Fitudia is 24m long, 4.0m wide and weighs 45 tons. She was born in 1903 in Swartzlois, Holland, and is also known as Hasselter Agg. “She There are two double rooms with own bathroom. What more do you want?“Brian especially likes to go through locks. In his boat, everything is so slow, a slow life he had always dreamed of. He wanted to leave New Zealand and Australia after professional and personal problems. He adds: “I have no desire to return to these two countries“.