Algeria | India | Nepal | Vietnam
My first report for Le Monde diplomatique dates back to 1998. I had been living in Vienna for three years, and I already perceived how Austrian xenophobia had something specific compared to other European racisms. Two years later, the far-right party came to power, causing an outcry among its European Union partners. Back in France in 2003, my collaboration with this quality newspaper became more regular. As a field reporter, I travel to different parts of the world (Europe, North Africa, Middle East, Asia) trying to understand people's lives, their joys and their sufferings.
Algeria
Among all the countries I know, Algeria holds a special place. I have done many reports there, I have written books, I have traveled thousands of kilometers, I have started to learn Algerian Arabic, etc. Today, I can no longer return because the Algerian authorities refuse to grant me a visa. In 2017, during my investigation into the trauma of the civil war of the 90s, I was arrested and then expelled by the military police.
India
The more complex it is, the more I like it! For journalism as I practice it, India is a fantastic country. Who can claim to understand this society of one billion four hundred million human beings divided into as many groups as Hinduism has deities? I went to India for the first time in 2003, accompanying my partner whose Vietnamese grandfather had settled in Pondicherry, where he had just passed away. In 2020, I was in Assam (northeast of the country) while the authorities were trying to imprison Bangladeshi immigrants in camps. Two years later, I went to Kerala (southwest) to observe the new practices of Islam in the last communist region of India.
Vietnam
Like Algeria, Vietnam is a country I know well – the difference being that I have never tried to learn the language (it's so difficult!), and I am not banned from staying there. In 2019, I did a report on farmers whose land had been seized by the authorities and then resold at a very high price to foreign investors, Chinese or Korean.
Nepal
I did this report in April 2024 on a Royal Enfield bullet 350 motorcycle, which allowed me to discover poor and difficult-to-access regions in the west of the country. Some villages are still strongly marked by the Maoist rebellion of 1996-2006. Coming soon!