Camille Gharbi explores the ability of people to create a home in the most difficult of circumstances.
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| ©camillegharbi |
Over the last
few years, many informal refugee camps have been erected in Paris as a result
of the migrant crisis.
People fleeing wars
or dictatorships in countries including Afghanistan, Sudan, Iraq, Eritrea and
Syria are continuously arriving in the city. Some are on their way to Calais,
hoping to make it to the UK. Some have given up on their English dreams and are
coming back from Calais. Others are willing to seek asylum in France and settle
down in the country. Some of them have been in Europe for many years, going
from place to place, struggling to survive. Some have just arrived in Europe
after several months of harsh journeying through the Middle East or Northern
Africa. Most of them have walked their way out of war. They have reached Europe
with the idea that life would be better here. At least it would be safe, and
they shall be able to live decently, far from threats and fear. As they gather
under the bridges of the French capital, their disillusion is hard felt. None
of them had anticipated the dirt, the cold, and the loneliness in which they
are left. The silence of the State and the public institutions. The violence of
the police forces.
So far Paris
has no migration office where refugees arriving in the city can get
information, orientation, or any basic support. They usually reach the city
with the name of a place written on a piece of paper or in a text message,
where they know they will meet fellow compatriots. Paris mayor Anne Hidalgo has
recently announced that a UN standards refugee camp, the first of its type in a
European capital, will be built in the city. Currently, there is little to
welcome migrants arriving in the city. Refugees seeking political asylum have a
right to protection and shelter, as written in the French Constitution, but the
process of being officially recognised by the government is long. After submitting
an application for asylum, refugees must wait for several months to get a first
interview, and even longer to get a place to stay in an Emergency Center.
So as they get
to Paris, most refugees join the existing informal camps that regularly
mushroom in the north of the capital. Once there, they rely on the support of a
few citizens and community associations to get food, shelter, blankets,
clothes, hygiene products, and information on the asylum process. The ‘lucky’ ones take shelter in tents, others
sleep on cardboard mattresses on the pavement. Once in a while they manage to
break into empty buildings and settle down for a while, until being expelled by
the police.
On the 31st of
July 2015, after several camps had been dismantled throughout the city, about 60
refugees managed to break into an abandoned high school, the Lycée Jean Quarré,
with the help of French activists. Three months later, there were about 900 refugees,
living in every single part of the building. They lived there in total
autonomy, without any support from public institutions. People gathered in the
classrooms, which were used as community rooms by day and accommodated sometimes
more than fifty men at night.
In September
and October 2015 I went almost daily to the Lycée Jean Quarré, to document the
place and make ID pictures for asylum seekers. In one of those rooms I met a
community of 40 Afghan men, who were sharing their day-to-day struggle for
survival. The asylum process is very long and asylum seekers are not allowed to
work until they get their papers. Most of those men were spending their days in
and around the classroom, waiting. Killing hours by talking, making tea,
playing cards and trying to learn French. Time goes slowly when life is on
hold.
From those
moments I have gathered together a series of photos entitled ‘The Waiting Room’,
which depicts the everyday life of this Afghan community in the Lycée Jean
Quarré.
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Le lycée professionnel Jean Quarré, établissement désaffecté du 19e arrondissement de Paris, a
été investi par une soixantaine de demandeurs d’asile et de sans-papiers le 31 juillet 2015 suite à
l’évacuation de campements dans les rues de la capitale.
Au jour de son évacuation le 23 octobre 2015 il abritait plus de 1300 personnes d’une quinzaine de
nationalités différentes, qui y vivaient regroupées par communauté de pays, installées dans tous
les recoins du bâtiment.
Les salles de cours du lycée, converties en pièces à vivre, y abritaient la nuit jusqu’à une
quarantaine de personnes. De salles de classe, elles se sont vues transformées en salle d’attente,
lieux de vie communautaire où l’on cohabite difficilement en attendant la suite.
Dans l’une d’elle, une quarantaine d’afghans ont partagé leur quotidien pendant trois mois. On y
dort, on y mange, on y prépare ses papiers, on y prend le thé en échangeant les dernières
nouvelles, on y joue aux cartes ou aux échecs. On y étudie le français. Une demande d’asile est
un parcours très long, ponctué de rendez-vous souvent espacés de plusieurs mois pendant
lesquels les demandeurs sont dans l’incapacité de travailler et ne peuvent rien faire de plus
qu’attendre la prochaine échéance.
Entre les murs de l’ancienne salle de cours, les jours s’écoulent lentement.
En septembre et octobre 2015, je me suis rendue quasi quotidiennement au lycée Jean Quarré,
pour documenter le lieu et réaliser des photos d’identité pour les dossiers de demande d’asile des
réfugiés. Les liens noués avec certains d’entre eux m’ont permis d'observer de manière privilégiée
ces moments de vie en suspens.
Camille is an architect and photographer based in Paris. After graduating in architecture, she worked in several large architecture practices in France and abroad, while developing photographic projects on the side. Her keen knowledge of the built environment led her to specialise in architecture and urban landscape photography. She works on personal projects (such as the Waiting Room) in parallel to her commissions from architecture offices, government offices, private companies and community organisations. Several of Camille's documentary works have been exhibited including; 'The Crossing', a photography series about migrants, at Gallery IMMIX in Paris (2015) and 'Vodoun Child', a portrait series from Benin, as part of Rencontres Photographiques du 10eme in Paris (2013) and photography festival MetzPhoto (2011). camillegharbi.com
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