Refugees in France Fear Islamic State Violence Has Followed Them
About 100 refugees from Syria and Iraq live at Centre Hubert Renaud, a dormitory complex about an hour’s drive northwest of Paris.
Photographer: Rafael Yaghobzadeg/Sipa USA via AP ImagesThey came to France to escape war in their homelands. Now the Syrians and Iraqis living at a refugee shelter outside of Paris have discovered that the war has followed them.
When news of the terror attacks broke late on Friday, families in the Centre Hubert Renaud, a summer-camp dormitory complex built near the town of Cergy, crowded around the television in the shelter's common room. “Everyone was watching, no one could believe it,” said Ahmad al Asoul, 19, who arrived in France from Syria two months ago. Although most speak little or no French, the graphic images of bleeding victims and sidewalks strewn with corpses spoke for themselves. The terror assaults at seven locations in the French capital Friday night left at least 127 dead in what French President Francois Hollande described as an “act of war” by Islamic State.