African, Maghreb refugees fleeing Ukraine bear the brunt of French apathy

"I am not an illegal immigrant. I'm an Algerian student with a residence permit in Ukraine. Now, the French government refuses to grant me asylum because I am not Ukrainian. My future is being wasted and my studies have been put on hold," explains the student who, up until the war started, was a final year medical student at Odessa University. 

The 24-year old, speaking to The New Arab on condition of anonymity, is one of many African students who are living in Paris on borrowed time. 

They now face deportation. 

"Beneficiaries [of French support] receive an allowance and have medical care, the right to work and assistance with housing and the schooling of their children. But only Ukrainian nationals can benefit from it"

In a surprise move, since the start of Russia's invasion of Ukraine on 20th February, France has decided to welcome more than 30,000 refugees from Ukraine.

This move has even been justified by right-wing politicians like ex-French presidential candidate Valerie Pecresse by saying that Ukrainians "look like us". 

But what about those who don't look like them? 

Since 4th March, the European Union has granted temporary protection for six months to people who have fled Ukraine. Beneficiaries receive an allowance and have medical care, the right to work and assistance with housing and the schooling of their children. But only Ukrainian nationals can benefit from it.

Refugees of other nationalities must prove that they are unable to return to their country of origin "under safe and lasting conditions" or their marital status to a Ukrainian citizen to benefit.

In France, the government has instructed the prefectures to examine the refugees’ situations individually, which raises fears of unequal treatment from one department to another, said France Fraternités, a Paris-based association that offers legal help to people in need.

“We are facing several difficulties, already at the level of the prefectures, they generally give an APS (provisional residence permit) of 1 month, which does not give the right to work or the possibility of enrolling in university. But depending on the prefectures the processing of files is different, which makes all the procedures unclear,” Alexandre Souvorov, a member of France Fraternités, told The New Arab.

Numbered less than 1000, non-Ukrainian refugees who fled the war-startled country to France are mostly from the Maghreb and West Africa. Their grand majority is French-speaking and enrolled in Ukrainian universities.

In Paris, dozens of African students who fled Ukraine live on the premises of the Maison des Camerounais de France, in the 18th arrondissement of Paris. 

Today, they are in fear of losing their accommodation in the coming weeks, as their residence permits have ended and their situation remains opaque.

Registration in a French university could be the only solution to end their tragedy.

“To date, for medical students, we have not yet received a positive response from the universities we have contacted," Souvorov told The New Arab.

Besides medicine faculties, around ten French universities have agreed to enrol students for the next academic year, according to France Fraternité.

“But even with registration [in French universities] it is not certain that their situation will be regularized, we have a student registered at the university but he still has no residence permit,” added France Fraternités in its statement to The New Arab.

“We are just asking for equal treatment with our Ukrainian colleagues. We had the same training and we escaped the same war. You cannot convince me that what we are facing today is not racism,” said Badr, a Moroccan student at Kharkiv University, told The New Arab.

Badr fled Ukraine in March through Poland's borders. He found his way to the French city of Orléans in April. Today, he says, he considers going to another European country where the rights of working and studying are guaranteed.

After the French elections, many students and NGOs hold out hope for the new government to end the deadlock.

“Many of these students will not return. Are we going to condemn them to precariousness and wandering on our territory? We call on Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne and her government to take up this file with humanity and pragmatism,” France Fratrnités wrote in a statement sent to The New Arab.

Basma El Atti is The New Arab's Morocco correspondent.

Follow her on Twitter: @elattibasma