Social cleansing? Migrants and homeless people shifted out of Paris ahead of Olympics 2024
PTC Web Desk: In preparation for the Paris Olympics 2024, hundreds of migrants and homeless people, including many carrying backpacks and small children, were relocated from the streets of Paris by buses escorted by armed police.
These primarily African migrants were transported to the outskirts of the city, where they will stay in temporary accommodations funded by the French government until at least the end of the Games. While some appreciated having shelter for the night, uncertainty loomed about their future once the Paris Olympics 2024 conclude.
"It’s like poker. I don’t know where I will go, or how long I will stay," said a homeless Parisian.
In the lead-up to this major global sports event, the French authorities have been clearing out migrant and homeless encampments. This move comes at a critical time for President Emmanuel Macron amidst political turmoil. Despite the significance of the Olympic Games, Parisians have voiced concerns about increased public transit fees and the government's focus on cleaning the Seine River for swimming rather than enhancing the social safety net.
The authorities have faced harsh criticism for relocating camping migrants from the city centre, where the Olympics are being held, to peripheral areas. Activist groups and migrants have condemned this practice, likening it to "social cleansing," a tactic previously seen in other Olympic host cities like Rio de Janeiro in 2016.
"They want to clean the city for the Olympic Games, for the tourists,” said Nathan Lequeux, an organiser for the activist group Utopia 56. "The treatment of migrants is becoming increasingly horrible and infamous. Since the Olympics, this aggressive policy of eviction has intensified."
Christophe Noël Du Payrat, chief of staff for the regional government of Île-de-France, refuted these accusations, asserting that the government has consistently relocated migrants for years. "We are taking care of them," he said. "We don’t understand the criticism because we are determined to provide places for these people."
- With inputs from agencies
