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French Alps: Helping hands

Dany Mitzman | Emma Wallis
December 6, 2021

Increasing numbers of migrants attempt to cross into France over the mountains, but this route can be dangerous. Refuges have been opened, and closed, as authorities and volunteers differ over how best to accommodate those who have arrived.

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Jean Gabriel is a mountain man. He has walked the mountains of the world, and now tries to make sure that the migrants who walk his mountains arrive safely in France and are well looked after.

For those migrants who do make it over the border, a refuge in Briancon awaits. Some migrants stop a few days or weeks here before continuing their journey on to other parts of France, the United Kingdom, or elsewhere in Europe — migrants like university student Ayoub from Morocco, who hopes that he can make his parents proud in Europe and one day have a family of his own.

This episode was recorded at the end of April 2021 in the French Alps by Dany Mitzman. 

Reporter: Dany Mitzman, France 

Presenter and Producer: Emma Wallis 

Editor: Marion MacGregor 

Series Editors: Charlotte Hauswedell and Sven Pöhle 

Studio production: Gerd Georgii and Jürgen Kuhn in DW studios 

Music: Chinese Man Records, France