Peals of youthful laughter rise above a whirring of clippers and the snipping of scissors – however this is not your regular barber’s store.
The Wilson barbers’ collective is difficult at work on a Sunday afternoon chopping hair in a Paris park, a well-liked assembly level for unaccompanied migrant minors.
“I’m comfortable, I acquired a cool lower,” grinned 16-year-old Ibrahim, who stated that he had arrived within the French capital from Guinea in March.
As with most of his fellow younger clients, his first request to remain in France as a minor was turned down, which meant he was left with nowhere to reside whereas ready for the authorities to take care of his attraction.
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“Sometimes you simply wish to pack all of it in,” he murmured, trying again at his time on the road earlier than he acquired a place in a shelter run by a voluntary group.
But the teasing and the compliments of his mates ready their flip for a lower put a smile again on his face.
“It’s not simply a lower,” stated Marion Collet, of the Wilson Migrants Solidarity group.
“In their day-to-day existence all the things is imposed on them – the place to sleep, what they eat, when meals is handed out…
“Here they’ve the appropriate to decide on what kind of haircut they want – to decide on their barber.”
‘A second of normality’
Since February final 12 months the group has been giving migrants and homeless folks free haircuts. Once a month they arrange in Belleville Park in jap Paris on the similar time the Midis Du Mie charity passes out meals.
Collet stated a haircut is a likelihood for “a second of normality” of their disrupted lives – “a quarter of an hour after they turn into regular clients”.
Around 100 younger migrants queued as much as have their hair lower on folding chairs by six barbers.
Many of the volunteer hairdressers are migrants and asylum seekers themselves, with established Parisian barbers additionally donating their time. All the equipment is provided by the collective – electrical clippers, scissors, robes – with some merchandise donated by manufacturers.
“It’s actually nice right here, the children are very laid again,” stated Warsame, a 41-year-old Somali asylum seeker who was a hairdresser again residence and is about to start out a skilled course in Paris.
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“I wished to assist, as I’m myself a refugee, so I understand how robust it’s,” stated Kunga Lakyap, a 30-year-old Tibetan who obtained refugee standing and now works as a barber.
One shopper who tried to leap the queue is waved off the chair with a smile by Collet after different purchasers complain.
“I need that one,” stated Santoui, one other 16-year-old from Guinea, gesturing that he wished Kunga to chop his hair.
“I haven’t got the cash to pay for a barber, so earlier than my mates would do it,” stated {the teenager}, who has been sleeping in a camp in the course of Place De La Bastille in central Paris.
“This is significantly better,” he added with a smile. – AFP
