CHARLES DE GAULLE: Twenty-seven Yazidi women arrived in France with their children on Wednesday from Iraq, fulfilling President Emmanuel Macron's pledge to take in 100 families from the ethnic group who were victims of assault by Daesh fighters.
The families were greeted at Charles de Gaulle airport outside Paris by Eric Chevallier, head of the foreign ministry's crisis management division, according to AFP reporters at the scene.
"Your children are going to go to school, you're going to make friends," Chevallier said, after they arrived from Erbil, the capital of Iraqi Kurdistan.
Many of the children were still quite young, but others were adolescents, some dressed up in suits and ties for the occasion.
"What we've lived through these past five years is unimaginable. Today France is opening its arms to us, we can only be grateful," 30-year-old mother Turko told AFP.
"The first thing we would like to do is learn the language, send our children to school and learn French culture. Afterward our children will decide what they want to do with their lives."
The government is not releasing the names of the families, as they were long persecuted by Daesh fighters and many still fear for their lives.
Some were held in sexual slavery and struggled to regain a place in Yazidi society, others had to flee their homes as men died while trying to resist the IS advance.
"They have high expectations," said Giovanni Cassani, head of the International Organization for Migration in Erbil, who accompanied the women on their flight.
"On the one hand it was difficult to leave their country of origin, their family, their village, but there is also the excitement of starting a new life in a new country, with plenty of possibilities," he said.
The families were put on buses to be taken to different regions of France, officials said.
With the 27 women who arrived Wednesday, the foreign ministry said France had taken in 102 Yazidi families since last December.
Macron pledged in October 2018 to bring to France 100 Yazidi women who were targeted for sexual assault in northern Iraq beginning in 2014.
The offer came following a meeting in Paris with Nadia Murad after she was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for her campaign to end sexual violence as a weapon of war.
Murad was one of thousands of Yazidi women captured by extremists before they were driven out of Sinjar and other parts of Iraq, starting with campaigns by Kurdish forces backed by US-led coalition forces.
France takes in 27 more Yazidi women victims of Daesh
France takes in 27 more Yazidi women victims of Daesh
- The families were greeted at Charles de Gaulle airport
Delhi ‘plant cafe’ offers residents respite from toxic smog
- Air Quality Index in the capital regularly hovers above 300, which is considered dangerous
- Residents are increasingly considering air pollution levels before venturing outside
NEW DELHI: As air pollution hovers around dangerous levels across New Delhi, a small cafe is becoming increasingly popular among residents of the Indian capital, offering respite from the constant toxic smog that threatens public health.
At Planterie, described by its owner as plant studio, rows of plants line both the floor and shelves as dozens of pots with spilling foliage hang by the window, resembling a lush greenhouse.
The cafe has gained traction online over the past month, after visitors posted clips of monitors showing comparatively better air quality inside.
On Wednesday, the Air Quality Index, or AQI, inside the cafe stood at about 30, a stark contrast to the levels outdoors, which hit above 300 across the capital.
On the AQI scale from 0 to 500, good air quality is represented by levels below 50, while levels above 300 are dangerous.
“This is one of a kind in Delhi … I’m sure you can feel the difference once you come in … (plants) make such a difference,” Sureika Narain, a walking tour guide and a regular at the cafe, told Arab News.
“I’ve grown up in Delhi. I’ve seen the pollution become worse and worse, but somehow I’m able to cope with it through the yogas, pranayama (breathing technique), whatever we do in life, and we find places like this that we carry on in life … this kind of place in Delhi is very important.”
Delhi has not recorded a single “clean air” day in 2025, with Air Quality Index readings hitting high above the 50 score throughout the year.
Its residents have staged at least four protests since October, demanding more government action to address air pollution.
The pollution levels also get worse as winter descends, when Delhi’s air further thickens into an opaque, toxic smog, triggering headaches, itchy eyes and burning throats among the public.
“During the winter season, pollution goes very high and people become more and more conscious. And people do find it, like if you come in here, immediately you feel a little bit of calmness, because all the plants and the air is very clean inside,” Farial Sabrina, co-owner of Planterie, told Arab News.
Since opening in 2021, she said some of her customers would commute at least 45 minutes just to visit the cafe, which offers a limited menu and can only accommodate about 20 people at a time.
“I feel grateful and sometimes overwhelmed with the response that people have given. People do come up to us and really thank us for existing,” Sabrina said.
“If you’re living in a big city, we want everything best, but air is a basic right.”
To limit exposure to toxic air, Delhi residents are increasingly choosing to stay at home, where air purifiers are at least keeping them safe.
As many start to consider AQI levels before going outside, places like Planterie are becoming a chosen alternative.
“I try to avoid going outside and the high AQI at the moment, so I mostly stay indoors with the air filter on,” Mona, a Planterie customer, told Arab News.
“The motivation to come here was basically to leave the house in the high AQI and, you know, find a place where the air quality is a little better.”
The same was true for Laura Supprin, a German living in the city.
“This is like a nice combination: good coffee, cute interior, some nice coffees or teas, and also lower AQI. So, it was a win-win,” she said.
“If you’re outside for too long, you, like, get a headache and don’t feel really great. So, having a place like this is good.”
