In January, the French state secretary for children and families announced a future "ban on the placement of children in hotels". The vast majority of young people placed in hotels by the child welfare agency are unaccompanied foreign minors. Fatima*, now an adult, remembers her time being moved from hotel to hotel. This is her story.
16-year-old Ali comes from Guinea Conakry. He arrived in Paris a few weeks ago and is still trying to get officially registered as a minor. Without a support network or anyone to take care of him, this teenager is struggling to cope. It's especially hard for him to find accommodation, at a time when temperatures are getting colder.
Following the demolition of an informal migrant camp on the Place de la République in central Paris, various NGOs have drawn attention to the fact that migrants are regularly victims of police violence across France. They also say that the use of force in such contexts is futile – especially without a coordinated migrant reception strategy.
Fever, a persistent cough and difficulties breathing… COVID-19 symptoms can lead to serious complications and may require emergency treatment. For migrants living in the streets, knowing where and how to go for a test can be tricky. InfoMigrants tells you more:
People across Italy have expressed their shock at the news that Brahim Aoussaoui had remained in Italy for weeks prior to committing three gruesome murders in Nice. The 21-year-old Tunisian had originally arrived on Lampedusa.
Following the October 16 beheading of a French schoolteacher by a Chechen refugee in the Parisian suburb of Conflans-Sainte-Honorine, several media reports and statements by politicians have featured factually inaccurate or false information concerning the right to asylum in France. InfoMigrants examined and fact-checked these statements.
A new study undertaken in MSF emergency centers between June and July 2020 showed that there appears to be a higher coronavirus infection rate among the poorest in Paris, including migrants and those living in precarious economic and social situations.
French authorities dismantled a migrant camp of "about 800" people in the port city of Calais on Tuesday, September 29. The makeshift camp is thought to be the biggest since the authorities cleared the so-called “Jungle” camp in 2016.
Two protests happened in Dover in the UK over the weekend. One in support of migrants passed off relatively quietly and a second one protesting against the arrival of migrants across the English Channel resulted in clashes between protesters and police.
The number of migrants attempting to cross the English Channel on small boats has increased dramatically following months of good weather and a fall in freight traffic due to the COVID-19 pandemic. InfoMigrants visited the 80 kilometer-long stretch of coastline in the Calais region as the numbers of boat crossings hit a new daily high, with 416 migrants reaching the UK on September 3.
As part of a social program, French pensioner Antoine Boulanger in February opened up his home to Malian teenager Bakary. But after just a month of living together, France went into lockdown because of the coronavirus, and the two started to bond – in part thanks to their common interest in science.
Four years ago, Amadou Diallo arrived in Greece as a 16-year-old unaccompanied child from Guinea. Since arriving he has fought hard for his education and the right to asylum. Finally, at the end of July, after several failed attempts he was granted not only the right to asylum in Greece but with it, the path to take up a university scholarship in Paris.