The riots and their aftermath have revealed the depth of anger, of the frustration and abandonment felt by many French citizens, reports the BBC, which attempts to demonstrate through interviews the problems faced by people who live in degraded and marginalized areas and became the focus of riots in France.

Amin was 17 when his brother’s body was pulled from the trunk of a burning car. “My brother unfortunately got into drugs early,” he says, his face impassive as he looks out at the high-rise apartments that surround us.

We sit, talking about his brother, who had been involved in drug trafficking prior to his murderin one of Marseille’s most notorious neighborhoods, the BBC reports.

Amin, now 19, grew up here on the Frais-Vallon estate, a huge and run-down social housing project in the north of the city, blighted by gang and drug violence.

Not far away, a pair of young men lie against a wall. Drug dealers work openly without any precautions here in broad daylight.

Also, poverty and lack of prospects, says Amin, drives many children into human trafficking. “There are no other options. There are no companies coming here and saying we’ll pay you more than the minimum wage… here people are supermarket cashiers or cleaners or security guards. We can’t be judges or lawyers or accountants.” He was not surprised by the recent riots over the police shooting of teenager Nael, which were particularly bad in Marseille.

Businesses here, including a gun shop, were vandalized and looted and a 27-year-old man was killed.

Prosecutors say the man who died hit in the chest by a police rubber bullet called “flashball”. He is believed to have suffered a heart attack, but the circumstances remain unclear.

Amin does not expect anything to change and the young people of his area they are doomed to chaos and unhappiness and he himself, while not justifying violence, understands the rage of the young.

Manto, a woman in her 40s, lives near what used to be a police station here. For many, it was the link to the French state. “It’s like living in a garbage can here,” says Manto. “It’s not safe. People defecate in the elevators and stairwells. For politicians we are nothing. We are really nothing.“

Another man, Murad, angrily says that there are rats everywhere there. “We don’t all have the same rights. Politicians go to the media and say there are no second-class citizens, but it’s not true in reality.”

But few, perhaps, understand the deep divisions in French society – or their consequences – more clearly than Amin. Now she works to steer young people in social housing away from crime, but also supports the families of those who paid with their lives.

Last year there were 31 drug-trafficking-related murders in Marseille. This year it was 23. Two thirds of the victims were under the age of 30.

French authorities have acknowledged both the tragedy and the problem

Two years ago, President Emmanuel Macron promised action for Marseille. He announced a €5 billion plan to tackle crime and poverty in the city. Before the riots he reiterated his commitment.

“Everything must go faster,” President Macron said at the start of a three-day trip during which he visited sites of reconstruction projects including a police station, a school, a prison and a hospital.

But Amin, who has met him twice, has lost faith. “When Macron comes, he comes to make announcements, not to listen to us,” he said.

Even the mayor of Marseille, Benoît Payan, recognizes that he needs to act unifying for his city. “For too long my city has been divided between people who are poor and people who are not. Between those who are considered citizens and those who are not.”

It is supposed to be a fundamental French value. But here, égalité (equality) is now an aspiration.