Published on: 05/04/2022 – 17:56 Like many European volunteers since the start of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Frenchman Geoffroy Bire has been taking part since the beginning of March in humanitarian convoys delivering medical equipment to Poland, at most close to the Ukrainian border, and help Ukrainians seeking to leave the country to reach safer areas in Europe. He brings his testimony, embellished with photos taken on the road, to the editorial staff of France 24 Observers. Photographer by profession, Geoffroy Bire has been a volunteer since the beginning of March for the association “Solidarité Ukraine-Lyon”, created in March 2022 of the Russian invasion in Ukraine which generated a flow of displaced Ukrainians and foreigners in Europe. The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) counted more than 4 million refugees on March 29, including 2.9 million in Poland, a figure never recorded in Europe since the Second World War. Since the beginning of March, the association has sent four caravans made up of six vehicles, going from Lyon to Zamosc, a Polish town located about sixty kilometers from the Ukrainian borders. Geoffrey has so far participated in two of these humanitarian convoys. He documented the expedition from March 25 to 27 in a series of photos, which he sent to the editorial staff of the Observers. The story accompanying the images has as a common thread Kori, a small green and yellow parakeet transported on March 27 from the Zamosc refugee camp in Lyon, in its cage, with its owners. The photographer has chosen to build his story around the bird, recounting through his journey the feeling of alienation that refugees can experience when leaving their country for a foreign country. The Kori parakeet traveled with its family from kyiv, Poland, to France on March 27. © Geoffrey Bire “Sometimes we have to convince hesitant people”Contacted, Geoffrey Bire says:We work under cover of the Red Cross, that is to say that the organization adorns us with its logo, in order to facilitate access to borders, and smoother exchanges with the Polish police, in particular when organizing the transfer of asylum seekers or Ukrainian refugees to Europe. It gives us legitimacy. On my very first expedition, we delivered medical equipment to Zamosc. There, we offload the donations to our Polish partners, who in turn distribute them, both to the Ukrainian refugee camps in Poland and also send them to the front lines in Ukraine. I joined the convoy team , at first, in reaction to the shock I received from the news in Ukraine. Then, after the first trip, it’s hard to forget the people who stayed there, so we go back. We always leave in pairs, to take turns driving. We try to leave on Friday evening and return to France on Sunday, which makes us about twenty-five hours on the road one way, about fifty hours there and back. {{ scope.counterText }} {{ scope.legend }} © {{ scope.credits }} {{ scope.counterText }} i {{ scope.legend }}© {{ scope.credits }} This series of photos follows the thread of the journey: the first images show the departure at dawn from Lyon, we organize radio communications, we take stock of the route… So far, we have transported 46 people from Poland to France in our trucks. Once the donations have been delivered to the depot, we will visit the refugee camp and prepare for the departure of people who wish to come to France. Sometimes we have to convince hesitant people. It’s hard to leave your country, especially when you have no bearings in your future host country. They also need to be reassured about who is transporting them. But thanks to the translators, we manage to gain a certain form of trust. Other people already have contacts or relatives in France or in other European countries; the departure is a little less difficult for them. We transported refugees from Kharkiv, kyiv or even Lviv. “We were able to exchange using signs and drawings, it’s a good way to break the ice” I brought with me a Ukrainian family from kyiv: a grandmother, a mother and a child, the owners of the Kori bird. The grandmother lived next to the airport which was bombed [l’aéroport militaire de Gostomel, bombardé le 25 février, se trouve à quelques 70 kilomètres au nord-ouest de Kiev]. Her house is probably destroyed today. They slept for a large part of the trip, but we were able to exchange using signs and drawings, it’s a good way to break the ice. However, they didn’t talk much about their ‘men’, who remained in Ukraine. Their first concern is to find out if there will be other Ukrainians there, in the foster home. {{ scope.counterText }} {{ scope.legend }} © {{ scope.credits }} {{ scope.counterText }} i {{ scope.legend }}© {{ scope.credits }} Sometimes it is not not possible to guarantee a home for a family before departure, but we finally manage to manage it remotely, on the way back. We do not have the right to drop off refugees on the street in France, we must provide a home to accommodate them. As for the children, it is necessary to check that they are well accompanied by their relatives, because there have been many disappearances at the borders. Fortunately, there is a reception structure which ensures the integration process in Lyon, with translators, social workers: a whole chain of solidarity is being created! And while waiting for the end of the crisis, we try to do what we can. {{ scope.counterText }} {{ scope.legend }} © {{ scope.credits }} {{ scope.counterText }} i {{ scope.legend }}© {{ scope.credits }} Like Geoffrey Bire, if you wish to send us stories, testimonies, or amateur images concerning your involvement in the situation in Ukraine, do not hesitate to write to our editorial staff at the following address: [email protected]; or contact us on Facebook or Instagram.
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