A group of migrants, mostly from east Africa, illegally occupied a centre for Ukrainian refugees in Paris on Sunday over alleged double standards and unfair treatment.
The occupation was organised by the far-left group Le Chapelle Debout and saw the activists alongside the migrants occupy the reception centre which only had 80 of its 600 places full last month.
Around 300 people took part in the occupation of the centre, demanding that migrants from other countries be treated the same as Ukrainian refugees and accused Franc of “apartheid practices” over the country’s treatment of migrants and refugees, Le Parisien reports.
Paris police attempted on Sunday to remove the occupying migrants and activists. Still, they were unable and local authorities sent a delegation to negotiate an end to the occupation on Sunday evening.
A 25-year-old Sudanese migrant who took part in the occupation spoke to the European Union-funded website InfoMigrants about the protest saying, “The difference between them and us is glaring. In the centre, there are toilets, children’s games and offices to facilitate their administrative procedures. We’ve never had that.”
Red Cross Boss Slams Europe’s ‘Double Standards’ For Welcoming Ukrainian Refugeeshttps://t.co/UOIB5m0mi7
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“We were greeted in the street by the police, repeated camp evacuations and tear gas. Ukrainians are entitled to special structures when we are forced to go through the street box,” he added.
The protest is not the first of its kind in Paris in recent years, as occupation-style protests have been organised by other pro-migrant activists groups in the French capital, such as the group Utopia 56 who occupied the Place des Vosges in central Paris last year along with around 600 homeless people, mostly migrants.
The accusations of double standards in the treatment of Ukrainian refugees in Franc is also not a new phenomenon and have been raised several times since the start of the Russian invasion in February.
Activists in the northern French city of Calais decried the alleged double standards as early as March, accusing the local government of treating Ukrainians differently than other migrants.
Others have also slammed European countries over alleged differences in treatment, including President Francesco Rocca of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, who stated in May, “Those who are fleeing violence, those who are seeking protection, should be treated equally.”
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