Around the Stalingrad station in northern Paris, hundreds of refugees have found a temporary home in the streets as they are waiting to seek asylum. The authorities and politicians are at a loss, the police is clearing the streets with a heavy hand, and the situation is chaotic. But there is also hope. Souleymane, a young poet from Darfur, dreams of learning French and finding a job. The French-Tunisian Hind Meddeb gives us a clear perspective of the refugee crisis in the middle of Europe, where a new sense of emergency has arisen. As she says: our borders are now being defended in the heart of our cities.