Review

A Tale of Two Asylum-Seekers

“Souleymane’s Story” interrogates the fictions we tell ourselves about what makes an acceptable migrant. December 12, 2025, 2:15 PM

A man wearing a raincoat, knit cap, and a backpack holds a bicycle and smartphone. He stands on a city sidewalk at dusk and looks up at the sky as rain pours.

Souleymane is a bike courier. From daybreak to the dead of night, he ferries takeout to Parisians for an unnamed food delivery app. It’s tough, thankless work, but there are bigger things on his mind. His immigration case is ready to be heard by the French Office for the Protection of Refugees and Stateless Persons (Ofpra), where he must prove that he has faced sufficient persecution to qualify for asylum and be granted the right to stay in France.

Souleymane’s S

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