How the Dream of Reaching Paris Turned Into a Tragedy

Arriving in Paris, the family was robbed by a thief on their very first day. They lost everything — from documents to personal belongings. But the most frightening part wasn't the robbery itself; it was the complete inaction of the police, who drove past every day and did nothing about a person sleeping on a bench. No social service was willing to help, and even the Red Cross was powerless. Only kind people — of many different nationalities — kept offering help.

The family consisted of a mother, her son, and their cat. Every day they ran from one institution to another, hoping to get help faster, but they were only redirected elsewhere, with no results at all. Eventually, the mother found a way out and decided to leave France.

The first step was reaching out to Caritas for help. The Caritas staff gave them food, then handed them a brochure listing all the organizations where they could get food packages, eat a hot meal, wash themselves, do laundry, or find a place to sleep for the night.

The second step, with help from the Caritas staff, was registering and going to the migration service OFII to file for refugee status, since no documents were required for that procedure.

The third step was finding the main police station (commissariat) that could properly file a report about the theft. With that report, they could move around Paris for free — whenever ticket inspectors or police stopped them in the metro, showing the report was enough to be let go immediately.

After that, they were referred to CAFDA, which was supposed to help them find temporary housing and where they were to go through an interview for the final decision on refugee status. But when no help with housing ever came, on the day of the interview they refused to go through with it. The mother asked when help with housing would arrive, and no one could give her a clear answer. So she said they were closing the procedure and leaving France.

Once their case was closed, they had the right to move freely. With the documents they had gathered, they bought a ticket to Strasbourg, and from Strasbourg to Offenburg. The entire journey cost them nothing, thanks to those documents and the police report.

In Offenburg, they went to the police, who directed them to a refugee reception center. In Germany, they received all the help they needed — they were given housing, new passports were issued, and they now live there legally.

This experience showed that life can change in an instant — which is why one should never give up.