More than 70 French charities are urging organisers of the Paris Olympics to ensure the event does not endanger those living on the streets or in emergency shelters – warning that vulnerable people are being cleared out as the city prepares to host the 2024 Games.
"The social cleansing of the streets of Paris and the Ile-de-France region has already begun," said Paul Alauzy, a spokesperson for the campaign Flip Side of the Medal.
Launched this week by more than 70 charities working with homeless people, migrants and other vulnerable populations, the campaign aims to draw attention to the potential consequences of the Paris Olympics for the capital's poorest residents.
In an open letter to the organisers, published on Monday, the groups warn: "The Games will cause profound upheaval in the city, with a very negative impact on these people's lives: eviction of the homeless, fewer places in emergency shelters, closure of reception services, decrease in food distribution, and so on."
According to Alauzy, who helps coordinate health services for people on the street for medical charity Médecins du Monde, the effects are already being felt.
"We know of several places where various charities were helping out, from empty buildings that people squat in to get off the street, to shantytowns and migrant camps," he told RFI.
"These sites are being cleared out for demolition and the people living there are being sent out of Paris."
While such policies are not new, Alauzy said he and other aid workers believe the Olympics are "accelerating all of it".
Shortage of beds
Charities have been warning for months of a shortage of emergency housing during the Games, which will take place from July to August 2024.
With some 150,000 people in temporary accommodation in the Paris region and an estimated 3,000 sleeping rough, people in urgent need of shelter are sometimes put up in hotels – but with an influx of tourists expected, many owners are expected to reserve rooms for high-paying guests.
The national government has asked local authorities in other regions of France to set up reception centres where homeless people could be lodged temporarily before being moved to longer-term accommodation in the same area.
Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo insisted that any relocations would be on a voluntary basis.
"There is absolutely no question of chasing anyone from Paris. None at all. Nobody will be forced to leave, nobody will be obliged to go the other end of France," she told The Guardian newspaper in May.
But while people on the street might agree to move for the promise of permanent accommodation, other regions have not been allocated extra funding to provide suitable shelter, Alauzy said.
Security restrictions
Charities also fear that they won't be allowed to provide essential services to people in need, Alauzy told RFI.
"We're concerned about all the places where people can access food aid and health services near future Olympic sites, which we expect to be out of bounds during the events," he said.
Security will be tight throughout the capital and its suburb during the Games, and aid groups worry that homeless people will not be allowed to move freely.
Speaking to FranceInfo radio, Alauzy cited the example of a food kitchen near Paris city hall that typically serves thousands of meals a week. "We know fine well" that large numbers of homeless people won't be able to line up for a free meal in the heart of Paris during the Olympics, he said.
Paris 2024 : "Le nettoyage social des rues d'Île-de-France a déjà commencé" alerte Paul Alauzy, du collectif "Le revers de médaille" et de l'ONG Médecins du monde pic.twitter.com/i2OvhjBzdf
— franceinfo (@franceinfo) October 30, 2023
An Olympic legacy
Many other Olympic host cities have cracked down on people on the street before and during the Games.
In Rio de Janiero, which hosted the 2016 Olympics, private security officers rounded up and relocated hundreds of homeless people from tourist areas. Ahead of the 1996 Games, Atlanta introduced new laws that criminalised loitering or reclining in public and used city money to bus homeless residents out of town.
The consequences continue to be felt long after the events are over, according to a United Nations human rights report, which pointed not only to evictions but displacement due to gentrification and higher prices in newly redeveloped areas.
Parts of London that were "regenerated" for the 2012 Olympics, for instance, have seen rents and house prices soar faster than other parts of the city, with some boroughs reporting a sharp rise in homelessness in the years that followed.
Paris 2024 looks set to follow the same pattern, according to the groups behind the Flip Side of the Medal campaign, who say that organisers have so far shown no sign of taking these issues into account.
"We want to see a clear plan to look after the most marginalised people, offering alternatives so that people can access something to eat, somewhere to get heathcare and a place to sleep during the Olympic Games," Alauzy told RFI.
"And lastly, we’d like to see a positive legacy from these Olympics, including for people on the street, so that social exclusion doesn’t end up being the legacy of Paris 2024."
