More than 4 million Ukrainians have fled their country since Russian troops invaded on February 24. Human Rights campaigners have praised the French government for the speed with which it set up a reception center with provisions for shelter, food and healthcare.

But they wonder why the authorities haven’t extended the same warm welcome to asylum-seekers from across Africa and the Middle East – many of whom sleep on the streets after treacherous months-long journeys.

“There has been no welcoming system in place for exiles,” says Leo Kuroyanagi, of migrant rights group, Utopia 56. “Yet with Ukrainian refugees arriving, we see there’s a capacity to set up a system to give them housing and help. It’s been put in place for Ukrainians but not for people coming from other countries. So it feels like there’s an absence of political will and it is perhaps due to structural racism in the French asylum system.”

France’s Interior Ministry would not respond to repeated requests for comment.

For this radio report, we visited camps northeast of Paris where migrants have been living in a state of limbo for months. A short version of this report aired on CBC Radio on April 13, 2022.

Migrants, supporters and locals protest in Pantin on 3 April 2022. Bilal’s placard reads: “Kiev and Kabul: same combat.”