Mohammad

Mohammad, 15, fled Syria with his family for Lebanon, then France. He lost an eye in a yellow vests protest in January 2019.

“I escaped the war in Syria and now, I lose an eye.”

Mohammad is 15. A shy teenager, he is the eldest of three children who left Aleppo for Lebanon, spending six years in refugee camps before arriving in France in May 2018. He lost his right eye in January 2019 in Saint-Etienne, 60 km (37 miles) from the city of Lyon.

Mohammad said he was hit by a rubber bullet after getting caught up in a group of yellow vest protesters being chased by the police.

“It is obvious that he was not taking part in the yellow vests protest,” said his lawyer, Solange Viallard-Valezy. Mohammad was “watching the protest when he was hit by a rubber bullet,” she said.

Mohammad and his father had gone grocery shopping that Saturday, although the store was closed because of the protests.

“There was tear gas and the yellow vests were running,” Mohammad said. “I stayed where I was, next to the tram stop (…) I was watching the policeman in front of me and suddenly, I was hit in the face and I fell to the ground. I couldn’t see.”

Mohammad said that police officers came and talked to him to keep him alert while he was lying on the ground.

Mohammad’s parents only found out he had been injured several hours later.

They also learned that local authorities had given the go-ahead for surgery. That was unable to save the boy’s right eye.

Mohammad’s family filed a complaint and the police disciplinary body opened an investigation into violence committed by a person in authority.

The investigation is ongoing.