French national without passport misses mother's funeral

Pierrick Guevelou has lived in Guernsey for more than 40 years, but was born in France. When his mother died suddenly last Thursday in France, the family hurriedly booked tickets with Condor to travel to St Malo on Friday.

But despite having his French birth certificate and his Guernsey driving licence – which he had used to travel to France before – Condor refused to let Mr Guevelou on the ferry.

The family said at no point were they asked for passport details when they booked the tickets at the Condor office.

Condor said they had spoken to French border staff, who said the documents were not acceptable, but the Guevelou family said they also spoke to border staff, who said it would be fine.

A Condor spokesperson said that the operator understood it must have been a distressing and frustrating situation, but said it does not have direct responsibility for security control at any of its ports.

'We work closely with the police, the ports and the border agencies in all locations and assist them in any way we can.

'On this occasion our Guernsey port team went the extra mile in calling the French immigration authorities to establish if they would allow this passenger to travel without a passport as an exception in particularly difficult circumstances.

'French immigration made the decision Mr Guevelou was unable to travel – we passed this information on to the passenger.'

The spokesperson added that Condor 'communicates clearly with all our customers when booking that they must have the correct documentation and input advance passenger information including passport number, full name and date of birth before they can check in to travel to France'.

'In addition, we have systems in place that send out email reminders and prominent signage in place at all ports.

'We understand that this was a difficult personal circumstance, and can confirm that as a gesture of goodwill we have already provided a full refund to this passenger.'

The advice on France Diplomatie is that any aliens non-French national? seeking entry to French territory needs to have a travel document, like a passport, to show border staff. However, there were no details specifically about French nationals.

Mr Guevelou was accompanied by his daughters Chan Gilbert, 21, and Sophie Guevelou, 24, who were left with the decision about whether to go to their grandmother's funeral or stay with their distressed father.

Mrs Gilbert said it had been a horrible choice.

'No one should have to go through that,' she said.

When the family booked the tickets at the Condor office last week, they were not told a passport was needed.

Mr Guevelou had travelled to France with a copy of his birth certificate – which had been emailed to him by the French local authority – and his driving licence in 2013 for his aunt's funeral, so did not expect any problems.

But when the three tried to board the lunchtime ferry, Mr Guevelou was refused entry.

So the family went to the nearby boarder agency office and checked with staff, who said they could not see a problem with travelling on the documents, if the French boarder agency, Police Aux Frontières, said it was OK. So the family contacted PAF, who said there was no problem with Mr Guevelou entering the country. Hurriedly returning to Condor, the family explained the situation, but was still denied permission to board.

Mrs Gilbert decided she could not leave her father along in such a distressed state.

'I was so upset for dad and I didn't not want to leave him,' she said.

The funeral took place on Saturday, with just Miss Guevelou in attendance. She said it had been hard to leave the family in Guernsey

'Someone had to go to represent us,' she said.

'It's what you do for your parents.'

The trauma has hit the family hard, with Mr Guevelou struggling to sleep after missing his mother's funeral.

He is now going order a Guernsey passport, but said he wanted to ensure others were not hit by the same problems.

The Guernsey Press has contacted the Police Nationale for comment.

Condor Ferries has now refunded the two unused tickets.