More than 12,000 evictions before the Olympic Games?

Is a “social cleansing” happening in Paris? With the Olympics approaching rapidly, associations are sounding the alarm about the rising number of evictions compared to last year. According to the collective Le Revers de la médaille, 12,545 people were evicted between 2023 and 2024, an increase of 38.5% compared to the 2021-2022 period. “Among these people, 3,434 were minors, twice as many as last year, and almost three times more than in 2021-2022”, the report states. Furthermore, it turns out that housing proposals following evictions are becoming increasingly rare. Only 35.3% of evictions resulted in shelter solutions, compared to 64.3% last year. Most of the evicted people are migrants in vulnerable situations. The evictions only further marginalize these homeless individuals.

The collective, which brings together some 80 associations helping the most fragile people, explains that the correlation between the sporting event and the evictions is not necessarily explicit. However, when authorities conduct evictions, they cite the Olympics as a reason. “We observe evictions in northeastern Paris, but also along the Seine. It is hard not to link it to the organization of the Olympics”, says Camille Gardesse from the Comité Accès aux Droits, during the presentation of the report to the press on Monday, June 3. The associations are also concerned about “harassment” and “repeated administrative controls” of sex workers, aiming to “remove them from public spaces”. Paul Alauzy, working at Médecins du Monde, accuses the government of “social cleansing”. He states that “the authorities are trying to sweep misery under the rug”. Solidarity associations call for “the creation of 20,000 new shelter places nationwide, including at least 7,000 in Île-de-France” to guarantee housing for all marginalized people.