AP Photo by David Goldman
Migrants and unhoused people were forced out of Paris before the 2024 Olympics. The Associated Press reports people carrying backpacks and small children were pushed out of the city by armed police ahead of the opening ceremony last week Thursday (July 25).
The migrants and homeless have been seemingly swept under an elaborate Parisian rug. On July 25, officers instructed hundreds of people sleeping on the streets in the City of Love to board buses. They were subsequently driven out of the city before the Olympics opening ceremony. The individuals were mostly African migrants.
Furthermore, the French government paid for the buses that transported them in addition to temporary housing — at least until the end of the Games.
Some of the individuals were happy to have a space indoors to sleep for a while, but others wondered what would happen to them once the Olympics were over. A 47-year-old unhouse woman named Nikki said, “It’s like poker. I don’t know where I will go or how much time I will stay.”
The Olympics were reportedly an important moment for President Emmanuel Macron, who is currently facing many challenges. In the months leading up to the Olympics, French officials have been clearing out migrants and homeless encampments.
As a result, activist groups and migrants rallied against their removal. They call the government’s actions “social cleansing.” Nathan Lequeux, an activist and Utopia 56 organizer, said:
“They want to clean the city for the Olympic Games, for the tourists.” He continued, “As treatment of the migrants is becoming more horrible and infamous, people are being chased off the streets….Since the Olympics, this aggressiveness, this policy of hunting has become more pronounced.”
Meanwhile, the chief of staff of the regional government of Île-de-France surrounding Paris denied those accusations. Christophe Noël Du Payrat claimed migrants have been relocated for years.
“We are taking care of them,” Payrat said. ”We don’t really understand the criticism because we are very much determined to offer places for these people.”
Buses arrived after three days of protests. They stood against authorities breaking up homeless encampments and demanded better access to temporary housing. The protest group eventually agreed that the families would leave on buses and be driven to an area near Paris with their families.
However, protest leaders are still concerned that the move will isolate migrants and said it was unclear what would happen to the city’s unhoused.
Noah Fargeon, a spokesman for Saccage 2024 — a group that has long campaigned against the Games, called the Paris Olympics “a monstrous waste of public funds.” He said the image presented is just a veneer.
“Paris is being transformed into Disneyland for the tourists, a LVMH (Louis Vuitton) image,” Fargeon said. “But on the other hand, those who actually live in the city are being moved along. Rather than put money into helping people get lodgings, money is put into repressing them.”
Clearly, there is a ton of fanfare around the Olympics, but maybe everything that glitters ain’t gold? Let us know your thoughts in the comments, roommates.
Associated Press staff Megan Janetsky and Jerome Pugmire contributed to this report.
