Each year, as the conflict in Afghanistan continues to escalate, more and more Afghans choose to flee their homeland in search of work and safety. They follow rumors of freedom and refuge but often end up on the streets, stuck in yet another desperate situation.
I recently spent some time on the streets of Paris with several groups of homeless refugees from Afghanistan. Stuck in a state of limbo, unable to gain official refugee status and the right to work, unable to make the difficult and illegal crossing to England where they would be able to gain that status and employment, they spend their days and nights on streets trying to survive.
Villemin Square Park in Paris is home to between 150 to 300 Afghan refugees. They store sleeping supplies such as cardboard and blankets in the bushes during the day and at night, after the police have cleared and locked up the park, they enter by sneaking back through a loose fence. They do their best to remain clean, doing laundry and bathing in a park faucet. They sleep through rain and cold temperatures (I slept out with them in June with my nice sleeping bag and woke up in the middle of the night extremely cold) only to be woken up in the morning by the police who clear the park and then re-open it to the public. After coming back they shave in the bushes and all 300 share three overflowing, portable toilets outside of the park, along with the other homeless in the neighborhood.
Unable to work, there is not a lot to do during the days. Some go to Internet cafes and try to find out information about which European Union countries may offer them asylum. Others have taken to drinking, despite their faith. Fights have become common and a recent murder in the park has shown yet another danger these refugees face.
Most of the men are young and there are no women. Several that I spoke to had worked as interpreters for the U.S. military in Afghanistan. When the Taliban found out that they were assisting the U.S. troops, they received death threats. The US military responded by offering them permits to carry hand guns—they laughed when they told me this story and one said “What will my little gun do against 20 men with AK-47s and rocket launchers?” So, when left with the choice of fleeing their country and leaving their family behind or facing nearly certain death, the choice is obvious.
Others have left for different reasons. One man's entire family had been killed during an aerial bombing run that destroyed his home. Others left merely to avoid such things and some just wanted a new life or the possibility of a good job.
For now they are stuck. They rely on the Salvation Army for some bread and coffee in the morning and the Red Cross provides a meal service in the evening. A local hospital is tasked with providing them emergency medical care, but one man had been suffering from a headache nearly the entire week I spent with them and each day he was turned away from the hospital.
In the short time I spent with them I ended up exhausted and sick. It took me two weeks to fully recover from whatever bug I picked up. I was so thankful that I only had to spend one week on this particular project and that I could go to a friend's house and sleep to get over my sickness. Unfortunately the Afghans do not have such basic luxuries.
To the Afghans: I know you guys will see this story when it is posted. I want to offer you my sincerest thanks for letting me into your world and allowing me to document your lives. I hope that this will educate people about your situation and that your lives will become easier soon. I consider you my brothers and my thoughts are with you! See you in the fall.
Homeless Afghan refugees are reflected in the window of social services bus tasked with bringing the men from a Red Cross feeding station to a night shelter on the outskirts of Paris. The shelter has limited space and many refugees prefer to sleep on the streets or in the parks.
A young refugee slips though a broken fence into a public park where he will find sleep for the night.
A man does his laundry at night in a park faucet.
A group of refugees sleep on top of cardboard boxes in the dirt of a public park near Gare de L'est in Paris.
A young refugee sleeps on the ground outside of a large apartment complex.
An older man says his prayers before going to sleep.
A man sleeps on a park bench.
Nearly 300 refugees as well as other local homeless share three run-down portable toilets.
A group of young Afghan refugees sleep under a bridge.
Refugees asleep on the grass of Villemin Square Park during first light.
Passing time playing football (soccer) in the park.
A young refugee reviews papers issued on the web by the French government that guarantee refugees certain rights, which many refugees say they have not been given, such as access to medical care and other basic needs.
Shaving in the park's bushes in the morning.
Eating a dinner donated by the Red Cross on the streets of Paris
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