Disappointed by the intervention of the Elysee Palace in his case, Frenchman Vincent Fichot began a third week of hunger strike in Tokyo on Sunday and saw his state of health deteriorate, still demanding the return of his children abducted by their mother Japanese in 2018.
While in Tokyo for the opening of the Olympic Games, Emmanuel Macron spoke on Saturday with Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga of the “extremely tragic situation” of Vincent Fichot, according to the Elysee Palace. The presidency also expressed its desire to achieve “results” and spoke of a “priority”.
France doesn’t even know if my children are alive
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“It’s good that Suga and Macron still spoke about my case (…), but that does not change the situation in which my children are, so I continue,” said the French father. “France doesn’t even know if my children are alive or not, and the relationship between Japan and France is described as exceptional (…). It’s amazing, it’s” business “before and our children after, ”he was indignant on Saturday.
The French president did not see Vincent Fichot during his two-day visit to Tokyo. Elysée advisers met him in his place.
He says he now suffers at the slightest effort
Since July 10, this 39-year-old former finance employee has been wedged day and night on a yoga mat, under the courtyard of a train station near the Olympic stadium. His health is starting to deteriorate and he says he now suffers from the slightest effort.
After trying everything before the Japanese courts, he took this action in the hope of pushing Paris to take “sanctions” against Japan for non-compliance with its international commitments on children’s rights. The principle of shared custody in the event of parental separation does not exist in Japan, an exception among industrialized countries. Also, parental abduction is a widespread and tolerated practice in the country.
In August 2018, Mr. Fichot’s Japanese wife left their home with their two children, now aged 4 and 6. He hasn’t seen them since. Local associations estimate that parental abductions concern 150,000 children each year in the archipelago.
Vincent Fichot has become a “spokesperson” for many Japanese
Mr. Fichot’s action attracted the attention of many international media and also some Japanese media. Japanese parliamentarians, including the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (PLD, right-wing conservative), also visited him.
Dozens of people come to support him every day: friends, members of the French expatriate community and many people in the same situation as him, foreigners as well as Japanese, men and women.
Mr. Fichot has become a “spokesperson” for many Japanese in the same situation as him. But the fact that Emmanuel Macron did not come to see him is “a big disappointment”, estimated François Roussel, adviser to the French abroad elected in Japan. This would have made it possible to “mobilize Japanese public opinion on this subject”, according to Mr. Roussel.
“Orphans of France”
The lawyer for the mother of her children did not wish to react, contenting herself with denouncing “partial” press articles.
According to the Frenchman, his wife allegedly alleged domestic violence before the judges, but then “retracted”. No judgment in their case refers to any violence on his part. A judicial investigation for the removal of minors targeting his wife was opened in France at the end of 2020 and Mr. Fichot is part of a group of ten parents from four different countries who filed a complaint against Japan with the Human Rights Council of United Nations in 2019.
But within “2-3 months”, the Japanese justice will pronounce his divorce and from there, he will have “no more legal ties” with his boy and daughter, explains Vincent Fichot. “I really wanted to maintain this link to give France a way to negotiate a return of my children (…) and there, France has just wasted the last cartridge.” “It’s as if my children have been stripped of their nationality. They are orphans from France.”
“We are very worried” for Vincent Fichot, confided Mr. Roussel. “We would now like to convince him to stop, but it is not easy (…), he is a determined man.”
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