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Confronted with the influx of millions of Ukrainians fleeing the Russian invasion, the reaction of solidarity was unanimous in Europe, from Poland to France, in the media and within political parties. On February 25 th 2022, on Europe 1, parliamentary representative for the MoDem party Jean-Louis Bourlanges declared that Ukrainians in France would represent “ high-quality immigration that we can draw benefit from”. On February 28 th, the deputy Minister of Transport, Jean-Baptiste Djebbari and the CEO of the SNCF group decreed that TGV and Intercité train fares would be free for Ukrainian refugees. Soon after, the question of according universal protection and right to asylum was raised. Hence on March 1 st, the CGT-rail workers union demanded that the free fares be extended to all refugees, considering that there was no reason to select “ good and bad refugees”. Reacting to Mr. Bourlanges’ statement, journalist Yaël Goosz asked: “ so there are less useful refugees… Because they’re too different from us culturally? Not Christians or not Europeans? (...) As if we must call it ‘welcoming refugees’ when talking about Ukrainians, but ‘migrant crisis’ when referring to the fate of Iraqis, Syrians, or Afghans!” (France Inter, March 2nd).

The French term "sans-papiers" describes any foreign person living in France without a residence permit. It resembles the term "clandestin", which appeared in political and administrative vocabulary in the late 19th century with the first measures strictly defining the terms of foreigners’ “right to residence”.

The term "diaspora" comes from the Greek spiro, which means "I scatter". It usually refers to populations chased out of their country and who maintain emotional, cultural, economic and political bonds with each other across borders. In France, the Jewish and Armenian diasporas are the best known; they hark back to a lost land, the departure point for a life in which mobility has set the tempo.

The word "refugee" should not be confused with the word “asylum seeker”. An asylum seeker is a person who submits a request for asylum in order to acquire refugee status. A refugee has been an asylum seeker, but not all asylum seekers are recognised as refugees.