French President Emmanuel Macron has been accused of “social cleansing” and “hiding poverty” as homeless camps are being removed from Paris ahead of the Olympics. The Daily Mail reports that.
President Macron has certainly staked his reputation on the success of Paris 2024, the publication writes. The Olympics won’t open until 26 July, but the head of state is already calling it “a moment of beauty, of true art, a celebration of sport and our values.” These are the first European Games since London 2012, and Macron wants to wow the world with scale and splendour.
“That’s why the operating budget has been set at the equivalent of more than £4 billion, a figure that could be doubled to £8 billion if you add the cost of new buildings such as a state-of-the-art aquatic center… Barges from all participating countries are expected to glide down the River Seine for a glamorous opening ceremony for which there will be no cost,” the article said.
However, there are still illegal camps scattered along the Seine that spoil the view, so there are now police raids almost every morning. One happened near City Hall at the end of April, where West Africans were mostly sleeping on the pavements. The occupants of the “night shelter” were told that they would be better off in the provinces, not in Paris. Many of those kicked out of the illegal site near City Hall were put on buses with the promise of being taken to Besançon, more than 250 miles from the capital.
“The 70-odd tents outside City Hall were housing migrants from former French colonies in West Africa who they said were unaccompanied minors who had a legal right to housing. They ended up on the streets after officials challenged their claims that they were under 18,” the newspaper said.
A fresh report by the charity group Le Revers de la Medaille claims that evictions are on the rise and there will be even more in the run-up to the Olympics.
“The situation is out of control” as “expulsions and police intervention in future security perimeters” increase, the group’s spokesman Paul Alausi said.
The report said Macron’s administration is acting in much the same way as the Chinese authorities, who removed homeless people from the streets of Beijing before the 2008 Games, and the Brazilians before the Rio de Janeiro Games in 2016.
The figures show that there were 33 major camp evictions in the year from March last year to March this year, compared with 19 in the year to March 2023, the paper said. It notes that other French cities involved in the staging of OI-2024 are also being subjected to “social cleansing” aimed at “hiding poverty”. In particular, a slum near the football stadium in Bordeaux, where Olympic football matches will be held, was cleared at the end of March.
Representatives of the Ville de Paris and the French Interior Ministry, for their part, denied that there was any official policy of “social cleansing” or “hiding poverty,” much less in time for the Olympics.
“The police are obliged to close down unauthorized camps for health and safety reasons,” said a spokesman for the Hôtel de Ville.
1,873 total views, 2 views today
