You are not afraid at night” as in the Calais
Posted: Thu Jul 10, 2025 9:34 am
When the French government decided to close the camp, Wali helped authorities load thousands of other migrants onto buses to assigned homes across France. He pulled the last bus out of “The Jungle” on October 27, 2016 after departing migrants set fire to the remaining structures. His government bus takes him to Strasbourg, a town with half-timbered houses on the German border and seat of the European Parliament.
He only had with him his clothes on his back, his official papers and the yellow vest he wore to help evacuate. He then took the vest of his asylum application – precious proof of his work on behalf of the French government.
Wali remembers crying on the long bus ride to a new stranger. But obtaining refugee status in Strasbourg changed her life, allowing her to find a job in a small restaurant and put a roof on her head.
“Now I’m so happy to be here,” he said. “ migrant camp. “You have job function email database your job. You have your job, you go home. You pay your rent. You are a normal person.
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GET LUCKY
Youssoufi began life in France on the streets after a grueling one-and-a-half-year journey from Afghanistan that included three months of detention in Hungary for illegal entry.
Then, “I was lucky,” he recalls. A French teacher who asked him why he was late in the morning greeted him when he explained that he was homeless. She became his source of information for navigating the complex asylum process and then the university system.
He only had with him his clothes on his back, his official papers and the yellow vest he wore to help evacuate. He then took the vest of his asylum application – precious proof of his work on behalf of the French government.
Wali remembers crying on the long bus ride to a new stranger. But obtaining refugee status in Strasbourg changed her life, allowing her to find a job in a small restaurant and put a roof on her head.
“Now I’m so happy to be here,” he said. “ migrant camp. “You have job function email database your job. You have your job, you go home. You pay your rent. You are a normal person.
___
GET LUCKY
Youssoufi began life in France on the streets after a grueling one-and-a-half-year journey from Afghanistan that included three months of detention in Hungary for illegal entry.
Then, “I was lucky,” he recalls. A French teacher who asked him why he was late in the morning greeted him when he explained that he was homeless. She became his source of information for navigating the complex asylum process and then the university system.