In cooperation with other organisations, we continued to run a day centre in Pantin, a suburb of Paris, where we provide medical and psychological support, cultural mediation, and legal and social assistance to unaccompanied minors whose applications for protection had been turned down by the authorities.
We also advocated better access to healthcare, alerting local authorities to the consequences of precarious living conditions on children’s health. Our teams cared for an increasing number of vulnerable unaccompanied girls, some of whom were pregnant, who had been denied assistance by social services and left without any protection.
We continued to run mobile clinics in the suburbs of the capital to provide medical consultations, cultural mediation and social support to people living in unsafe conditions, including migrants and unaccompanied minors. These clinics worked as a medical and humanitarian surveillance tool in migrant camps, as they facilitated early detection of medical and humanitarian needs, to which we could alert the local health authorities.
During the winter, we assisted hundreds of unaccompanied minors who were sleeping on the streets. We also provided logistical and financial support to local organisations and agencies who assist minors who are homeless on a daily basis, by distributing tents and relief items, such as blankets and clothing, to help them cope with the cold.
Another mobile team provided support to unaccompanied minors living in state-provided accommodation, to ensure that they had access to legal information on their appeal procedure and to help with any follow-up.
In Marseille, we continued to offer multi-disciplinary support to unaccompanied minors with mental and physical vulnerabilities in our 20-bed shelter. We also ran outreach activities and offered logistical and financial support to local organisations working with people in vulnerable circumstances.
