Irregular migrants struggle to survive in parking lot in France

PARIS (AA) – Dozens of irregular migrants, including families with children, who sought a better life by embarking on a perilous journey and crossing multiple countries to reach France, have been living in deplorable conditions in a parking lot in a Paris suburb for months.

Nearly 200 irregular migrants from Iran, Morocco, and notably Afghanistan are living in a parking lot in Pantin, a northeastern Paris suburb that has been converted into a refugee camp with the assistance of non-governmental organizations and local residents.

Every day, French police patrol the area, observing and photographing the parking lot.

Zeki, a 24-year-old Afghan immigrant, said he fled his homeland four years ago, worked in Istanbul for three years, and then arrived in France two days ago, passing through many Balkan countries.

He has met irregular immigrants who arrived in France before him, but the state does not care for them, thus he is considering leaving the country, he asserted.

People bring food to the camp every evening, stressing that there are only four mobile toilets, which are insufficient.

Inayatullah, another Afghan irregular migrant living in deplorable conditions, said he has been living in the parking lot for two months and that at least 200 people now stay there.

He described the harsh conditions they faced in the camp, saying that police came every day to count the people camping in the parking lot and that no one questioned what they were going through.

At the end of 2021, a group of immigrants, including families with children and unaccompanied children, slept in tents for weeks in a tunnel beneath a bridge in the capital Paris, despite the cold weather.