“I sleep here.” 21-year-old Ahmad points to a grubby blanket on a patch of soil beneath an apartment block in northern Paris. It’s 3am in October but the Afghan national wears only a T-shirt. His arm bears a small bullet wound, and a cluster of self-inflicted slashes cover both wrists.
“I got a letter saying if I find you anywhere in Afghanistan, I will shoot you directly like your father,” he says in perfect English, sweeping back an overgrown fringe. “I said to my mother, ‘Goodbye, I hope you have a long life, let’s see if I can make a life.’ But now I’m in Europe, there is nothing.”
Ahmad pulls a folded plastic wallet from his pocket – a document from the French authorities outlining his decision to appeal a rejected asylum claim. “It’s been eight months and I’m still waiting for an answer. I have nobody helping me.”
Charities warn that the proximity of this lawless hub to scores of sleeping refugees – of which there are an estimated 800 on any given night – is a “recipe for exploitation”, as vulnerable asylum-seekers with no right to work are lured into transporting drugs and even selling their bodies in order to earn money to survive.
The risks facing refugees in Paris are exacerbated by increasing delays on the French authorities processing asylum claims, and a lack of support or legal means of earning money in the interim period, making homeless refugees malleable prey.
Alix explains that sometimes drug dealers will tactically offer hard drugs to young refugees for no cost, promoting it as a form of escape, so that they develop addictions and become dependent.
“They’re very aware of how to do it. They offer it for free the first time and the second time, and then say okay you can have it if you go sell this for me, and it’s very quickly too late,” she says.
“We’ve known of girls being raped. There was one 16-year-old girl recently who we took to the police because we were concerned about her. But she ended up back on the steer, and experienced a rape attempt.”
Volunteers say teenagers with no option but to sleep on the streets are also vulnerable to sexual grooming and exploitation, with adults allegedly offering them shelter in return for sexual favours.
Source: Independent
