Paris transports homeless away from Olympic sites | The Arkansas Democrat-Gazette

PARIS — French authorities have been clearing migrant and homeless camps for months ahead of the 2024 Olympic Games, a key moment for President Emmanuel Macron at a time of political unrest. The latest wave of migrants, mostly from African countries, and homeless people have headed to the outskirts of the city in buses paid for by the French government and into temporary housing until at least the end of the global sporting event.

While some people living on the streets were happy to have a roof over their heads for the night, few knew what awaited them once the eyes of the world were no longer on Paris.

Authorities have been heavily criticized for bussing the migrant camps from the city center, where the Olympics are being held, to the outskirts of Paris or other areas. Activist groups and migrants have called the practice, which has long been used in other Olympic host cities such as Rio de Janeiro in 2016, a form of “social cleansing.”

“They want to clean up the city for the Olympics, for the tourists,” said Nathan Lequeux, an organizer with the activist group Utopia 56. “As the treatment of migrants becomes more and more horrific and notorious, people are being chased off the streets. … Since the Olympics, this aggressiveness, this hunting policy, has become more pronounced.”

Christophe Noël Du Payrat, chief of staff of the regional government of Île-de-France, which surrounds Paris, strongly denied the accusations, saying the government had been removing migrants from the city for years.

“We take care of them,” he said. “We don’t really understand the criticism because we are determined to give these people a place.”

He spoke as dozens of police rounded up migrants, blocked them from walking in the streets and put up warning tape. When asked why there were so many armed police for a group that was largely made up of families, Noël Du Payrat said it was to maintain “peace and tranquility.”

Thursday’s buses came after three days of protests by hundreds of migrants and other homeless people like Nikki, who slept outside a local government office as athletes and tourists poured into Paris. They protested against authorities breaking up homeless camps and demanded better access to temporary housing.

Among them was Natacha Louise Gbetie, a 36-year-old migrant from Burkina Faso, and a 1-year-old son she carried on her back. Gbetie, who once worked as an accountant in her country, migrated to the southern French city of Montpellier with family members five years ago.

Many of the families relocated by the French authorities, like Gbetie, come from African countries once colonised by the French, including Burkina Faso, Guinea, Ivory Coast and Senegal.

After an abusive situation, she moved to Paris. She made ends meet by working as a babysitter and sleeping in social housing. That ended in the run-up to the Olympics, when she said access to social housing was being cut and hostel prices were skyrocketing. She said most employers in France wouldn’t hire her because she was an immigrant without legal status and she felt rejected as an anti-immigrant party with a far-right party that has gained power in France.

“I think France is saturated. They are fed up with migrants, they want us to leave their country,” Gbetie said.

The protest group agreed that families would be put on buses to a province near Paris and that families would stay together in shelters.

Despite the agreement, protest leaders expressed concern that the measure would isolate migrants and said it was still unclear what would happen to the city’s homeless.

Others like Gbetie worried about the future of her 1-year-old son Richard. Despite being born in France, he was among those forgotten, Gbetie said.

“We have children who are French,” she said. “They will be the future engineers and leaders of this country. Think of them first and forget about the Olympics for now.”

In the Place de la République in central Paris, a popular square for protests, they tried to encourage people to do just that on the eve of the grand opening ceremony on the Seine.

Several associations gathered for what they called the “Counter Opening Ceremony,” where they gave speeches about the cost of the Games. They said the authorities were using them as a pretext for social cleansing, clearing migrants and homeless people off the streets to preserve a postcard image of the city.

“Even in recent weeks, there was a passage under a metro line where people were sleeping and they put up a wall of cement to stop people coming back,” said Paul Alauzy, a spokesman for the group Revers de la Médaille (the other side of the coin). “There is a quay in Aubervilliers where they put blocks of concrete with spikes on it.”

A giant banner was draped over the iconic statue in the square, reading: “JO de l’exclusion, 12,500 personnes éxpulsées” (The Games of Exclusion, 12,500 people expelled).

“Shame, shame, shame,” chanted the crowd of about 200 people as smoke grenades in the colours of the Olympic rings were fired.

Banners were placed all over the square.

One read, “La France, championne du mal-logement” (France, champion of bad housing). Another read, “L’heure est grave. Pas de logements, pas de Jo” (The situation is serious. No accommodation, no Games). Another called for the Olympic flame to be extinguished, and one depicted French President Emmanuel Macron with his hands through the Olympic rings as if he were handcuffed.

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 money.” He said the image presented was just a veneer.

“Paris is being turned into a Disneyland for tourists, an LVMH (Louis Vuitton) image,” Fargeon said. “But on the other hand, those who actually live in the city are being displaced. Instead of putting money into helping people find shelter, money is being put into oppressing them.”

The Games also drew criticism, with Parisians complaining about everything from increased public transport fares to government spending on cleaning the Seine for swimming instead of investing in the social safety net.

Information for this article came from Jerome Pugmire of The Associated Press.

People gesture during a migrant protest at the 2024 Summer Olympics, Thursday, July 25, 2024, in Paris, France. Police cleared migrants sleeping in a tent camp in the capital on the eve of the grand opening ceremony of the Paris Olympics, as social and environmental activists called attention to criticisms of the Paris Games, including the displacement of migrants and housing problems. (AP Photo/David Goldman)

Police officers secure the area during a migrant protest at the 2024 Summer Olympics, Thursday, July 25, 2024, in Paris, France. Police cleared migrants sleeping in a tent camp in the capital on the eve of the grand opening ceremony of the Paris Olympics, as social and environmental activists called attention to criticisms of the Paris Games, including the displacement of migrants and housing problems. (AP Photo/David Goldman)

Migrants board a bus following a migrant protest at the 2024 Summer Olympics, Thursday, July 25, 2024, in Paris, France. Police cleared migrants sleeping in a tent camp in the capital on the eve of the grand opening ceremony of the Paris Olympics, as social and environmental activists called attention to criticisms of the Paris Games, including the displacement of migrants and housing problems. (AP Photo/David Goldman)

A man pushes his stroller over crowds during a migrant protest at the 2024 Summer Olympics, Thursday, July 25, 2024, in Paris, France. Police cleared out migrants sleeping in a tent camp in the capital on the eve of the grand opening ceremony of the Paris Olympics, as social and environmental activists called attention to criticisms of the Paris Games, including the displacement of migrants and housing problems. (AP Photo/David Goldman)

A man carries a baby carrier before getting into a police car after a migrant protest at the 2024 Summer Olympics, Thursday, July 25, 2024, in Paris, France. Police cleared migrants sleeping in a tent camp in the capital on the eve of the grand opening ceremony of the Paris Olympics, as social and environmental activists draw attention to criticisms of the Paris Games, including the displacement of migrants and housing problems. (AP Photo/David Goldman)

Pedestrians and cyclists pass a sign reading “Let’s put out the flame” hanging in Republique Square during a demonstration by several associations for what they called the “Counter-Opening Ceremony” against the 2024 Summer Olympics, Thursday, July 25, 2024, in Paris. Protesters made speeches about the cost of the Olympics and said authorities have used the Games as a pretext for what they call social cleansing, clearing migrants and homeless people off the streets to preserve a postcard image of the city for the millions of visitors who come. (AP Photo/David Goldman)

An image of French President Emmanuel Macron and the Olympic rings adorns a sign reading “The Games for the People” that hangs in Republique Square during a demonstration by several associations for what they called the “Counter-Opening Ceremony” against the 2024 Summer Olympics, Thursday, July 25, 2024, in Paris. Protesters made speeches about the cost of the Olympics and said authorities have used the Games as a pretext for what they call social cleansing, clearing migrants and homeless people off the streets to preserve a postcard image of the city for the millions of visitors who come. (AP Photo/David Goldman)

A banner reading “France is made of migrations” is unfurled in Republique Square during a demonstration by several associations for what they called the “Counter-Opening Ceremony” against the 2024 Summer Olympics, Thursday, July 25, 2024, in Paris. Protesters made speeches about the cost of the Olympics and said authorities have used the Games as a pretext for what they call social cleansing, clearing migrants and homeless people off the streets to preserve a postcard image of the city for the millions of visitors who come. (AP Photo/David Goldman)

Natasha Louise Gbetie, of Burkina Faso, and her son Richard Emmanuel attend a protest during the 2024 Summer Olympics, Thursday, July 25, 2024, in Paris, France. On the eve of the grand opening ceremony of the Paris Olympics, police cleared migrants sleeping in a tent camp in the capital, as social and environmental activists called attention to criticisms of the Paris Games, including the displacement of migrants and housing problems. (AP Photo/David Goldman)