At five o’clock on a July morning, a large, white bus rolls down towards the Saint-Denis canal. There was a woman on the brakes, and a tired face stuck out of the zip openings of the many tents that line the river bank. They know very well what is about to happen. This with the buses has actually become a routine over the past year. They take homeless people sleeping on the streets with them and drive them out of the French capital. Moving the homeless Since April last year, French authorities have removed at least 14,000 homeless refugees, asylum seekers, sex workers and drug addicts from the streets, hostels and barracks they live in. This is according to a report prepared by over 100 humanitarian organizations working in the city. A homeless person seeks shelter under a bench in Paris. Photo: Dimitar Dilkoff / AFP The New York Times newspaper has tried to contact the French authorities, but they would not comment on the debts. French authorities have previously said that this is a voluntary program to solve the housing shortage in the capital. When the New York Times followed the buses, they found that several of the migrants on board ended up on the streets of the cities they arrived at, or were flagged for extradition to their homeland. But whether they are aware of the broken promise or not, the eviction along the Canal Saint-Denis goes quietly and calmly. The residents put on their shoes, pack their bags and follow the instructions from the police. The bus to other cities The French government has created ten intermediate care centers in cities such as Toulouse, Bordeaux, Lyon and Strasbourg. Some take the bus all the way to Marseille, over 770 kilometers from Paris. Those who join the buses do so in exchange for a promise to stay at the care center for three weeks before they have to move on again. But several have reported back that there was no room at the centers they arrived at, according to testimonies collected by Le revers de la médaille. Large part of the French workforce About half of France’s roughly 300,000 homeless cages in the Paris area, according to the Observatoire des inégalités. Most live in hostels or in occupied empty buildings. French police have routinely thrown people out of such buildings over the past year. Seine-Saint-Denis will be cleared of rubbish a week before the start of the Olympics. Photo: Madeleine Pradel / AFP At least 7,000 cages on the open street, without a roof over their heads. Many live in Seine-Saint-Denis, a congested suburb north of Paris which has now received a proper renovation to house the Olympic village and several arenas. Most people get up in the morning and go to work. You can find them in the informal health sector, on building sites, in home services and washing dishes in the most expensive restaurants, says Antoine de Clerck. The river Seine has been cleared of E. coli, the stands have been set up, and Paris is ready for the Olympics. Photo: Abdul Saboor / Reuters He is the spokesperson for Le revers de la médaille, the collective that brings together these over 100 organizations to protect vulnerable groups during the Olympics in Paris. – They take the jobs the French don’t want, but they can’t be part of the Olympic postcard. – When we are now going to present our city to the world, we put these people away. They must not be seen. It is very inhumane, he says. Nectar for social cleansing The mayors in towns and villages that receive the migrants are becoming increasingly provoked. They do not want to bear any responsibility for them, and crisis preparedness throughout the country is already overloaded. In common with Le revers de la médaille and several activists, they blame Paris for engaging in “social cleansing” ahead of the Olympics. French authorities deny themselves that the evictions have anything to do with the Olympics. Heimlause was bussed away from the Saint-Denis canal in July. Photo: Mélodie Gourand But organizations that work in various ways with homeless and vulnerable people on the streets have documented that the evictions began to increase in frequency and scope a year before the Olympic torch was lit. The closer the city gets to the starting point, the fewer tent camps, hostels and barracks there are for those who do not have a permanent address. Over the course of two days last week, almost 500 people left camps in several central places: Along the Canal de l’Ourcq, which is on the route for the Olympic torch on Thursday 25 June. Pont-Marie de Seine, the bridge where the opening ceremony will be held on Friday 26 June. Along the Canal Saint-Denis, where several events will take place. Not the Olympics’ fault A social clean-up of the host city’s streets before the Olympics is not new. Rather, it seems to be a tradition. – It is important to say that the Olympics do not cause problems. The problem already exists in Paris. The Olympics rather give strength to the work we do, says de Clerck, and explains: He usually struggles to get people to care about the homeless and vulnerable in the city. But the Olympics put the spotlight on all sides of the city. In the past year, journalists from all over the world have called him to hear about the homeless who are being pushed out of the city. And he has no doubt that the Olympics in Paris will be beautiful. Almost NOK 96 billion has been set aside for the event, including to refurbish Seine-Saint-Denis. – The city has really planned some spectacular scenes. It will be a big party, says de Clerck. – But I just don’t understand why a small part of it could go to the most vulnerable, so that they could participate. Then it would have become a real folk festival. Published 26/07/2024, at 13.37 Updated 26/07/2024, at 14.02
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Thousands of homeless people have been bussed out of Paris before the Olympics – news Urix – Foreign news and documentaries
