French authorities continue to expel homeless people, including asylum seekers, from Paris ahead of the Olympic Games, which begin next month, a report by a non-governmental organisation said.
The expulsions began a year ago and 12,545 people have been expelled from Paris between 2023 and 2024, a 38.5 per cent increase from 2021 to 2022, said French NGO Le Revers de la Medaille, which published the report on Monday.
The move targets “undesirable” groups such as asylum seekers, families living in unfavourable conditions and drug addicts, according to the report.
Authorities have also dismantled tent camps in the capital where irregular migrants were sheltering and prevented them from returning to the same places without providing them with a safer solution and shelter, the report added.
Paul Alauzy, a coordinator for health monitoring at Médecins du Monde, accused the authorities of “social cleansing” of the city’s most precarious population in order for Paris to “appear in the most flattering light possible” for the Olympics. He said people were being bussed to temporary regional centres set up last year as a short-term fix for the problem. He also added:
“They are hiding the misery under the rug. If this really was a dignified solution to the problem, people would be fighting to get on the buses. They’re not. We are in the process of making life impossible for these people and those who support them.”
Solutions to the problem
Anne Hidalgo, the Paris mayor, has said the city hall had been asking the government, which is responsible for emergency housing, to come up with a credible plan for housing the estimated 3,600 people living on the capital’s streets “for years”. Last year, she insisted nobody would be forced to leave the city. Hidalgo said:
“I am angry about this being pushed on to the city [authority] because it’s not our role or responsibility and we already play more than our part in finding urgent accommodation for vulnerable people. Every week we are putting families into homes.”
Le Revers de la Medaille proposed the creation of 20,000 shelters across the country, including 7,000 in Ile-de-France, as well as a humanitarian centre for those evicted from Paris. The organisation stressed that these people should not be expelled from Paris without a long-term solution.
France is preparing to host the Olympic Games in Paris, which will take place from July 26 to August 11.
Earlier, railway workers in the French capital staged a protest against the Olympics, demanding higher bonuses and financial compensation from management for the duration of the competition.
