A plane carrying 184 Afghan civilians landed at Roissy Charles-de-Gaulle airport, near Paris, on Wednesday. A further 180 Afghans touched down on Thursday evening. Didier Leschi, director general of the French Office of Immigration and Integration (OFII), explains to InfoMigrants how these emergency evacuations are organized and what will happen to these refugees now.
At least 12 Afghans have been killed in and around the Kabul airport since Sunday’s Taliban takeover while trying to flee, raising questions of a need for a humanitarian corridor to the country's main exit point. The US says it has airlifted 7,000 people out since Saturday. Meanwhile, G7 foreign ministers have called on the international community to unite in its response to the crisis. Late Thursday, a third French flight of Kabul evacuees since the Taliban took over landed in Paris.
Hundreds of homeless migrants and their supporters set up tents in front of the Paris City Hall on Thursday evening to demand better accommodation. Mostly families from sub-Saharan Africa and unaccompanied minors, they pitched their tents as the bells of the building rang at 8pm.
Many asylum seekers in Europe share similar experiences of spending years on the streets and bouncing between different countries in the European Union, unable to obtain official status and to start rebuilding their lives. InfoMigrants spoke to several migrants who are currently in Paris.
Reza Jafari was only 13 years old when he arrived in France as an unaccompanied minor. Over a decade later, the young Afghan has become a fervent defender of undocumented migrants living on the streets of Paris. He has set his sights on politics and is running as a candidate for The Greens in the upcoming French regional elections .
Ali, a 15-year-old Guinean migrant whom InfoMigrants met at the beginning of the year, admitted that he does not always eat enough. The young man spends his days scouring the various food distribution points in Paris.
480 homeless migrants, including women and children, were given shelter on Thursday evening after they occupied Place de la République in the heart of Paris for several hours.
A new movement in Paris is using slogans pasted onto the walls of Paris buildings to highlight the "dramatic" situation of hundreds of unaccompanied minors who live on the street. "Collages Refugees" was created at the beginning of March 2021.
Eight months after arriving in France, 10-year-old Fatimate from Côte d'Ivoire and her family were about to be deported back to Italy. Thanks to a protest by the girl's school, the deportation has been postponed. But it has not been cancelled.
About 80 people on the street, mainly migrants, were given places in emergency centers and hotels following an action on Saturday by the "collective requisition." These activists, along with homeless people, occupied empty wings of the Hôtel-Dieu hospital in Paris, demanding accommodation.
Cold, hungry, forgotten: 250 migrants have turned a disused Paris office into their temporary home. In recent months, this type of abandoned building has become one of the only solutions for those left on the streets.
Since the beginning of December, the Migrant Solidarity Wilson group has been distributing meals to homeless migrants in Paris. Every Tuesday, outreach workers venture out on motorcycles to reach those who are becoming increasingly isolated in the French capital.