Twenty-six Algerians returning home from the UK have been stuck in transit at Charles de Gaulle airport in Paris for the past three weeks.
The group, who include two young girls and a 75-year-old woman, flew from Heathrow Airport on 26 February.
In Paris they were told by Air Algeria they could not continue their journey, reportedly because of Covid measures.
They have since been living rough in the transit area of Terminal 2 at Charles de Gaulle.
The 26 men, women and children have been sleeping on chairs or on the floor, eating food provided by sympathisers.
Air Algeria initially gave them food vouchers, but stopped when they refused the company’s offer to fly them back to London.
They have access to showers in a zone of the airport where there is a hotel, but they are charged €20 (£17; $24) to use them. They also receive a doctor’s visit every day.
One man, who had left his job as a chef in the town of Eastbourne on the south coast of England, told the BBC that they had taken an early morning flight on 26 February and all had tickets from London through to Algiers as well as the required negative Covid test.
When they tried to board the connecting flight at Charles de Gaulle they were turned back, he said, because of the UK-Kent Covid-19 variant.
“Everyone has important personal reasons to go to Algeria. My wife is there and has had Covid. I gave up my flat and job. Otherwise we’d go back to the UK,” said the man, who wished to remain anonymous.
Their situation has become more and more desperate, but they have vowed to stay put until the Algerian authorities let them travel.
“It is miserable here. How long can you keep sleeping on the floor before you crack? Two weeks, three weeks, four?”
There’s been no comment from the Algerian consulate in Paris.
For a year Algeria has run a very strict border policy, suspending most air and sea connections and stranding tens of thousands of its nationals abroad.
This has angered many in the Algerian diaspora who say that ordinary people are suffering while those with the right connections can still travel to and fro.
The French airports authority has said it is doing its best to help the Algerians, although the group are not their responsibility.
“It is a precarious situation, but we have no say over what happens to them,” a spokesperson said. “It is down to the Algerian authorities and Air Algeria”.
Sourrce: BBC
