STORY: Migrants living in a Paris camp struggled to cope with scorching heat as a persisting heatwave sent temperatures skyrocketing to record highs in the city on Wednesday (June 24).

The mercury is set to reach 40 degrees Celsius (104 degrees Fahrenheit) in the French capital on Wednesday, according to weather forecaster Meteo France. This would be the first time the city sees temperatures over 40 degrees Celsius in June.

At the camp in northern Paris, hundreds of migrants tried to find refuge from the heat, sleeping in their tents and drinking water from faucets installed by the city during the days-long heatwave.

“It’s very difficult to live in the tent. I can’t live a life here, it’s very difficult,” said Arsalan, a 25-year-old migrant from Afghanistan.

He said the heat was making him dizzy and that many people in the camp have been getting sick due to the sizzling weather.

Eritrean migrant Hanivall, 23, said he has been drinking water and drenching his head to combat the heat. He also goes to the nearby canal to go for a swim to cool down.

"It's danger for some people. For me it's okay, for some people it's not okay… Homeless life is not okay,” he said.

Some 1,800 migrants have been living in the streets of Paris, a number that has doubled in recent months, said Vincent Beaugrand, the director general of France Terre d’Asile, an association supporting migrants and asylum seekers.

The association normally works on administrative and social support for migrants and does not distribute food and beverages. But during the heatwave, volunteers have been making rounds to provide water bottles in Paris’ encampments.

Beaugrand said that although installing faucets around camps is a good immediate solution to alleviate homelessness, the government should focus on widening access to housing for migrants in the long run.

“Today, we're talking about heatwave risks, but there are also risks of violence and being assaulted," he said.

“The true structural measures are… to house everyone living in the street.”

DESCRIPCIÓN DE IMÁGENES

Migrants living on streets of Paris struggle in extreme heat

VIDEO SHOWS: TENTS AND MIGRANTS AT MIGRANT CAMP IN PARIS / SOUNDBITES OF MIGRANTS ON HEATWAVE / INTERVIEW WITH HEAD OF ASSOCIATION FOR MIGRANTS ON IMPACT OF HEATWAVE

RESENDING WITH COMPLETE SCRIPT

PLEASE NOTE: MIGRANTS' FACES WERE BLURRED AS PRECAUTION, FOR THEIR SECURITY

SHOWS: PARIS, FRANCE (JUNE 24, 2026) (REUTERS - Access all)

1. VARIOUS OF TENTS AT MIGRANT CAMP NEAR LA CHAPELLE METRO STATION

2. MIGRANT SEATED IN TENT DRINKING WATER

3. VARIOUS OF PHARMACY CROSS SHOWING TEMPERATURE AT 35 DEGREES CELSIUS

4. TENTS IN MIGRANT CAMP

5. MIGRANT SLEEPING

6. MIGRANT USING WATER FAUCET SET UP FOR DRINKING WATER AT CAMP DURING HEATWAVE

7. PEOPLE WALKING BY FAUCETS

8. SIGN FOR PARIS WATER PROVIDER ON SINK

9. (SOUNDBITE) (Dari) 25-YEAR-OLD MIGRANT FROM AFGHANISTAN, ARSALAN, SAYING:

“It’s very hot, it’s 40 degrees. It’s very difficult to live in the tent. I can’t live a life here, it’s very difficult. The government does not give us any help.”

10. VARIOUS OF MIGRANT HOLDING PORTABLE ELECTRIC FAN

11. VARIOUS OF MIGRANTS SLEEPING NEAR TENTS

12. (SOUNDBITE) (Dari) 25-YEAR-OLD MIGRANT FROM AFGHANISTAN, ARSALAN, SAYING:

“It’s hot, it’s very hot, so many people get sick here. Yesterday, someone fell down, he was sick and he was screaming, the doctor didn’t come to take him. The same goes for me, my condition is very bad, too. The government doesn’t pay any attention to us. Now, I’m sick, I’m going to the doctor, because I have heat rashes on my body, to see what my problem is. I'm feeling dizzy, maybe it’s because of the weather.”

13. VARIOUS OF MIGRANTS SLEEPING

14. MIGRANT SEATED IN FRONT OF TENT

15. (SOUNDBITE) (English) 23-YEAR-OLD MIGRANT FROM ERITREA, HANIVALL, SAYING:

"For me, before drink (water), it's hot, after drink, it's nice."

JOURNALIST SAYING: "So you just drink water?"

HANIVALL: "Yes, drink water... (GESTURING)"

JOURNALIST SAYING: "Put on your head?"

HANIVALL SAYING: "Yes, nice."

16. VARIOUS OF MIGRANTS SLEEPING

17. (SOUNDBITE) (English) 23-YEAR-OLD MIGRANT FROM ERITREA, HANIVALL, SAYING:

"You have to swim, you have to swim."

JOURNALIST SAYING: "Here, what do you do here?"

HANIVALL: "Here? I swim here, five minutes, I walk five minutes, swim, it's nice."

18. VARIOUS OF CITY WORKER SPRAYING WATER TO CLEAN UP NEAR CAMP

19. VARIOUS OF WATER BEING SPRAYED NEAR TENTS

20. (SOUNDBITE) (English) 23-YEAR-OLD MIGRANT FROM ERITREA, HANIVALL, SAYING:

"It's danger for some people. For me it's okay, for some people it's not okay. Homeless, this is homeless life, homeless life is not okay. You got me? Yeah."

21. VARIOUS OF DIRECTOR GENERAL OF ASSOCIATION FOR MIGRANTS "FRANCE TERRE D'ASILE", VINCENT BEAUGRAND, WORKING AT DESK

22. SCREEN SHOWING FRANCE TERRE D'ASILE LOGO

23. (SOUNDBITE) (French) DIRECTOR GENERAL OF ASSOCIATION FOR MIGRANTS "FRANCE TERRE D'ASILE", VINCENT BEAUGRAND, SAYING:

"Our outreach volunteers also have water bottles to be given to people they come across, because there is urgent need for it. The City of Paris has also doubled its outreach initiatives, as well as those done by associations, so that this can work in the best possible way. So yes, there are efforts being done, although the absolute difficulty of living in the street remains despite all the welfare initiatives. The dayside welcome centres remain open later than usual in the entire city. But the burden, the difficulty of homelessness is massive."

24. POLICE WALKING PAST MIGRANTS' TENTS

25. VARIOUS OF MIGRANTS SLEEPING

26. (SOUNDBITE) (French) DIRECTOR GENERAL OF ASSOCIATION FOR MIGRANTS "FRANCE TERRE D'ASILE", VINCENT BEAUGRAND, SAYING:

"Structural solutions are not about setting up water faucets. Yes, in the short term, since we are not yet capable of housing everyone today, why not cater to the immediate need? But the true structural measures are what I have been saying from the beginning - it's the capacity to house everyone living in the street, in order to put them into the path of integration, for them to be protected from the risks of the streets. Today, we're talking about heatwave risks, but there are also risks of violence and being assaulted."

27. TENTS AT MIGRANT CAMP

28. VARIOUS OF MAN CARRYING ELECTRIC FAN INTO METRO STATION

29. STREET