On Wednesday afternoon, Djamel Chaab, 43, an unemployed Algerian worker, doused himself with petrol and died by self-immolation in front of the state employment agency (Pôle emploi) in Nantes in western France, which had cancelled his eligibility for unemployment benefit.
The previous day at 10 a.m. he had written to the local paper, Presse Océan, asserting his right to the benefit: “Today is a great day for me because I will burn myself at the employment agency. I have worked for 720 hours and according to the law it’s 610 hours. And the agency has rejected my claim.”
At 1 p.m. the same day the paper received another email, which read: “I went to Pôle Emploi with five litres of gasoline to burn myself, but it was closed ... so it will happen tomorrow the 13th or the 14th, because it really would be better to do it at Pôle Emploi, thank you.”
Julian Chaillou, a union spokesman for the CGT (National Confederation of Labour), explained: “He would have received unemployment benefit for a period when he was working. In that case he’s being hit twice: He has to return the money he was not entitled to and his right to benefits is not recognised for this period.”
Chaab finally carried out his suicide pledge just after 12 noon on Wednesday. In order to avoid being prevented from doing it he set fire to himself some 50 metres from the agency and ran to the entrance, where a single security guard was on duty and unable to save him.
The police said that Chaab was married, had a 10-year residence permit, had no criminal record and led a normal life. He had recently completed a boiler manufacturing course.
via www.wsws.org
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