“I imagined my life here differently”, they fled Afghanistan and found themselves under the bridges in Lyon

After the capture of Afghanistan by the Taliban on August 15, 2021, thousands of Afghans immigrated to European countries, particularly France. In Lyon, dozens of Afghan families are forced to sleep on the street despite their refugee status, due to a lack of accommodation.

A report by Karim Maskinyar, Afghan journalist, political refugee and asylum seeker

Mohammad Anwar is tired and dejected. This Afghan refugee who arrived in Lyon in the summer of 2024 recognizes this: “Daily life is really difficult. I imagined my life here differently“. In Kabul, this man was director of communications in Afghan intelligence, the equivalent of the French DGSE. After the capture of Afghanistan by the Taliban on August 15, 2021, he was forced to flee his country where he was threatened because of his duties.

Now in Lyon, he lives day and night with his wife who has cancer and his 14-year-old daughter under a bridge in the city center. With, as a house, a canvas tent.

However, this Afghan couple has all the legal documents from the French government: they obtained a visa and then refugee status. Despite their regularized situation, no accommodation is offered to them due to lack of places. Without work and with the RSA as their only resource, the family cannot pay rent outside of the State measures provided for access to housing for refugees, and therefore finds themselves on the street, exposed to bad weather, theft, to violence.

Other Afghan refugees share this same situation in the makeshift camp. “I protect my children with blankets when the rain enters the tent” testifies Wahida, 35 years old. Accommodation is the main problem for all asylum seekers. This Afghan refugee is also in good standing and has a 10-year residence permit. But access to housing is a difficult process. of the fighter says she is exhausted and resigned: “migration is not an easy task. Every day I have to face problems” explains this mother, who lives with her three children.

She spends all her nights and days in a tent, with a simple plastic tarpaulin to protect herself from the rain. They dream of a suitable sheltered place to live with dignity. Because in the camp, taking a shower every day is impossible, washing clothes represents a real logistics, while being able to prepare a hot meal is a luxury. Wahida is especially worried about her young children, who cannot go to school until they have a fixed address. In her previous life in Afghanistan, she was a school teacher herself.

The reception conditions for Afghans living in France have deteriorated significantly since the capture of Kabul by the Taliban regime in August 2021. The first refugees to arrive legally after being evacuated by France were able to benefit quite easily from accommodation for their family. Health coverage, language courses and a small monthly sum of money were allocated to all asylum seekers.

But today, three years after the fall of Kabul, Afghan families live in Lyon in great precariousness. The demand for emergency housing is so high that dozens of families like those of Mohammad and Wahida find themselves on the streets, often with babies, young children or sick people. They have to wait months before they hope to have a roof over their heads.

No one chooses to become a refugee. Events impose it on us to stay alive. Leaving your country is heartbreaking. Living in a foreign country is much more difficult than you might imagine.