Ahead of this summer’s Olympic Games, French authorities hastily relocated homeless people and irregular migrants from Paris and surrounding areas to other cities to create an image as a country without poverty in the eyes of international visitors, according to an aid group.
These homeless individuals were transported by bus to various French cities, such as Strasbourg and Orleans, in order to distance them from central Paris.
In June, The Other Side of the Medal, an umbrella organization for groups aiding irregular migrants, released a report on the homeless who were displaced in the Ile-de-France region, where Paris is located, in preparation for the 2024 Olympic Games, which are set to conclude this week.
According to the report, starting a year ago in Ile-de-France, over 12,500 homeless people, including 3,434 children, including a number of irregular migrants, were removed from camp-like areas in the region where the Olympic Village is located.
The report noted that 500 homeless people were evacuated from the Ile-Saint-Denis area near the village on April 26, 2023.
The report said: “It’s hard not to draw a connection between the evacuation and the Paris Olympic Games.”
‘Image that does not reflect reality’
In an interview with Anadolu, Esperance M., head of the Timmy Association, which aids unaccompanied child migrants, criticized the relocations, claiming they are being conducted hastily to clear the streets of those seen as “blemishes on the Paris landscape.”
Esperance M., who requested her last name not be given, said the relocations mark a shift from previous practices, where homeless individuals were typically placed in the areas where they were.
Authorities tried to justify the relocations by citing a lack of sufficient housing in Paris and its surroundings, according to Esperance.
She further said that 5,000 emergency accommodation places in the area were converted to host personnel for the current Olympic Games and the Rugby World Cup, which took place last fall.
These actions were taken to create an image of Paris as a city without poverty, Esperance said. “The most vulnerable people and those living on the streets are being sacrificed for an image that does not reflect reality.”
The Ile-de-France Governorship recently announced that future housing operations for the homeless will be conducted outside the capital, a move Esperance criticized as a form of punishment.
"The government is punishing a sector of the population by pushing them out, as they don't want them to be seen by tourists during the Olympics."
She added that the relocations have created significant challenges for homeless individuals and migrants, many of whom need to remain in Paris to continue legal, official, or medical processes.
“We are uprooting them,” Esperance said. “Even young people studying while living on the streets have been sent to other regions.”
Esperance also raised concerns about the lack of consultation with those affected, noting that many homeless individuals were not informed of their destination before being relocated.
Aid groups helping the homeless were also not notified in advance, making it difficult to inform the affected individuals, she said.
In May, police evacuated a building where homeless people were living in Montreuil, a suburb of Paris, and nearly all of the residents were taken to a police station, and some were later moved to a detention center, according to Esperance.
Pressure on child migrants
She added that some child migrants sent outside Paris were pressured to apply for asylum as adults to continue receiving housing services and that child migrants who refused were either left on the streets or returned to the capital.
“We were very well aware that they would somehow be moved away during the Olympic Games,” Esperance said, criticizing the government’s lack of openness to discussions with aid groups.
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