In spite of the government’s denial of any connection to the Olympics, which Paris will host in the summer of 2024, some non-governmental organizations and elected officials believe the Games are part of the reason why this homeless relocation plan has been recently activated.
— It’s 6.30 a.m. on a late summer morning in Paris. Amid the rumbling coming from the Stalingrad Métro station, in the northeast of the French capital, hundreds of migrants, mostly men, sleep crammed under an overpass. Some rest on pieces of cardboard and old mattresses behind a urine-doused fence, others lie awake by the side of the street.
“We heard they were coming to take us today but I am not sure where to,” Obsa, a 31-year-old political refugee from Ethiopia, told CNN. He wishes to be identified by a pseudonym due to concerns about reprisals. In 2022, there were approximately 50,000 homeless people housed in hotels nightly in the Ile-de-France region, where Paris is located, according to the Federation of Solidarity Actors, an umbrella group for local associations and charitable organizations. This year, at least 5,000 of the previously available hotel spots have already been canceled, CNN affiliate BFMTV reported, which could partly explain why refugees such as Obsa and his wife were pushed out onto the streets.
Staff and volunteers from local humanitarian organizations and the Paris police talk to migrants who appear at a loss about what is happening. Some 10 regional temporary shelters, known as SAS, have been set up around the country to welcome the new arrivals outside of Paris, according to the Dihal. Each SAS can accommodate up to 50 people.
In a May 5 parliamentary discussion, former Housing Minister Olivier Klein said that the Ile-de-France’s homeless would need to be transferred to other regions, following the loss of emergency housing spots caused by Parisian hotels canceling their government contracts. A spokesperson for Paris 2024 told CNN the relocation plan had “nothing to do with” the Games or the Rugby World Cup currently under way in France.
According to the Dihal, in recent weeks, the number of people who have left the SAS they were sent to was around 17%. “The question of welcoming foreigners is a politically and socially difficult one,” said Brice, referring to migrants. “And so, the government has chosen not to talk about it which, in my opinion, is a mistake.”
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