In the run-up to the Paris Olympic Games, French authorities have faced accusations of engaging in “social cleansing,” a term used by human rights activists to describe the systematic removal of homeless people and migrants from the city. Authorities deny these allegations, but numerous non-profit organizations have presented evidence documenting the methods used to “manage” the most vulnerable populations in the Paris region before and during the Games.
The controversy began gaining traction just a day after the ceremonial lighting of the Paris 2024 Olympic flame in Greece on April 16. Despite the event’s themes of friendship and solidarity, French authorities initiated the eviction of hundreds of migrants from France’s largest squat in Vitry-sur-Seine, south of Paris. Those evicted were encouraged to board buses that would take them to other parts of France. This was the third significant eviction operation carried out in the Île-de-France region, which includes Paris and its surrounding areas, since the start of 2023. In April 2023, approximately 400 people were removed from a squat near the Olympic Village on Île-Saint-Denis, and another 200 were evicted in July 2023 from a squat in Thiais, south of Paris.
These actions quickly caught the attention of associations dedicated to helping those in vulnerable situations. By October 2023, over 80 non-profits working with migrants and the homeless had joined forces to form an umbrella group called Le Revers de la médaille (“The Other Side of the Medal”). The group has been vocal in denouncing what they describe as “social cleansing” in Paris ahead of the Olympic Games.
“There are various pieces of evidence that allow us to use the term ‘social cleansing’,” said Paul Alauzy, spokesperson for the group and a campaigner for migrant safety at the NGO Médecins du Monde. Alauzy explained that while eviction operations are not new, their frequency has increased significantly as the Games draw closer, and the systematic relocation of those evicted to other French regions has become more pronounced.
The participating groups of Le Revers de la médaille have collected and published their findings from field research conducted between April 2023 and May 2024 in a report released on June 5. The report highlights a sharp increase in evacuation operations, suggesting that the upcoming Olympic and Paralympic Games are accelerating the dispersal and removal of people in vulnerable situations. The report indicates that the authorities have been targeting several groups for over a year, including the homeless, migrants, Roma people, sex workers, and drug users.
Antoine de Clerck, a campaigner from Le Revers de la médaille, stated, “To create a picture-postcard city, we relocate people and make them invisible. What we’re observing on the ground echoes what happened at previous Olympics abroad: they don’t want the most marginalised people to be visible to cameras or tourists.”
As the Paris Olympic Games approach, the debate over these eviction operations continues to intensify, drawing attention to the complex balance between urban aesthetics and the rights and dignity of the city’s most vulnerable populations.
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