“Let's give undocumented workers rights!” Protest on 1 May 2018. Photo by Flickr user Jeanne Menjoulet. CC BY 2.0 An undocumented Malian immigrant's heroic feat of saving a 4-year-old on the evening of 26 May 2018 in Paris’ 18th arrondissement has taken France by storm and highlighted the difficult situation many “sans-papiers” (those without papers) face. Mamadou Gassama, 22, saw the young boy as he was hanging from the guardrail of a fourth-floor balcony, having fallen from the floor above. A neighbour was standing by, unable to reach the child due to the dividing wall between the two apartments. Gassama then scaled the building's balconies in 30 seconds, grabbed the child and passed him to the neighbour. Gassama told his own account of what happened in subsequent interviews (via Brut Magazine): Beaucoup de personnes sont en train de crier…mais je n'ai regardé personne, j'ai couru, j'ai traversé la route. C'est ma première fois [escalader un immeuble], Je n'ai pas pensé à ça [qu'il risquait sa propre vie], j'ai juste pensé à l'enfant, j'ai voulu le sauver. A lot of people were shouting. I didn't look at anyone, I ran and followed the route. It was my first time [climbing a building], I didn't think about [how I was risking my own life]. I just thought about the child, I wanted to save him. Some bystanders filmed the scene with their mobile phones. Several amateur videos have been uploaded online, the first of which reached 547,000 views, 739 comments and 3,600 likes within two days. That video was later taken down for copyright reasons as several people claimed its ownership. However, the following video is still online: The child had been left alone in the apartment by his father, who had gone shopping and had been held up on his way home. The father was taken to court the next day. Gassama was invited to the Elysée by French President Emmanuel Macron, who awarded him with a diploma and a medal for his heroic courage. Macron also announced that Gassama's immigration situation would be regularised immediately, and that he would be given a job at the Paris fire brigade. Furthermore, Macron invited Gassama to apply for citizenship. The story has made headlines in French and foreign media channels and continues to be widely discussed on social networks. The television and radio site France Info has published and regularly updates a complete collection of articles on the different aspects of the feat. The hashtag #MamadouGassama began trending on Twitter on 28 May, and has collected many reflections on the complexities and simplifications of the issue of asylum seekers and “economic migrants” in France. In Mali, although a peace deal was signed in 2015, the conflict in the northern region continues to negatively affect the country. Political strife and the strengthened presence of Islamist armed groups are the main causes of the ever-present volatility and violence. As such, folks like Gassama continue to leave Mali to escape the situation in the hope of providing a secure future for their families. Once news of his action to save the child spread, the first reactions in Gassama's home country were to celebrate the Malian “Spider-Man”: #Mali??: Un honneur de plus pour Mamoudou Gassama, le Spiderman ?? de #Paris?.@julienlebot@AmbaMaliFrance#France#MamoudouGassama#kunafoni pic.twitter.com/EbJDLPq2b6 — kunafoni.com (@ikunafoni) May 31, 2018 #Mali??: The highest honour for Mamoudou Gassama, the Spiderman ?? of #Paris? There was also a mixture of pride and regret for all the talent that Africa has lost: Heureuse pour #Mamoudou Gassama mais je pleure pour mon continent. Combien de héros a t’on perdu, désespérés,tournant le dos? Combien de talents à qui on n’a pas permis de naître sont allés périr en mer? Combien de forces,de cerveaux a t’on laissé partir bâtir d’autres nations? — Dr Djamila Ferdjani (@DjamilaF) May 28, 2018 I'm happy for #Mamoudou Gassama but I weep for my continent.