the Games “lubricate the cogs of a big machine to crush the lives of people who are already extremely precarious”, denounces the Revers de la Medal collective

According to a report from Revers de la Medal, published this Monday, 12,545 people in precarious situations were evicted in the region between May 1, 2023 and April 30, 2024.

The Paris 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games “lubricate the cogs of a big machine that crushes the lives of people who are already extremely precarious”, denounced, Monday June 3, on franceinfo, Paul Alauzy, coordinator at Médecins du Monde and spokesperson for the Le Revers de la Medal collective. According to this collective, which brings together some 80 associations helping the most vulnerable people, the “social cleansing” caused by the Olympics is “a little oil”.

Île-de-France was “emptied of part of its most precarious inhabitants” in one year, deplores the collective. According to a report from Revers de la Medal, published this Monday, 12,545 people in precarious situations were expelled in the region between May 1, 2023 and April 30, 2024. For its part, the regional prefecture explains on franceinfo that 5,224 people, mainly migrants, have been moved from the Île-de-France region to other regions, since the regional temporary reception system was implemented. place in April 2023.

A “abusive approach” And “violent”, insists on franceinfo Paul Alauzy, who denounces “the method”. Especially since “this is a very worrying time for our solidarity, with the immigration law, the anti-squat law, this airlock circular. It’s a big machine that creates homelessness.” The spokesperson for Revers de la Medal believes that after the “Games, with this combination of phenomena, society will be even less inclusive for already fragile people.”

“Very little” evicted people receive offers of permanent housing according to Paul Alauzy. “Often, it’s rehousing for a few weeks or a few months. It’s rare that people have access to real social housing,” he laments. To sum up, “we send people for a few weeks, away from the Games and out of sight.”

The spokesperson for Revers de la Medal claims to have “proposed positive solutions” for some “Exemplary games”, without moving these precarious people to “cities or countryside where they will be less well taken care of”. He emphasizes that the “Paris town hall is ready to open 1,000 places, has identified the locations and has the budget”. These places “must open tomorrow, it’s urgent!” he indicates, recalling that the city does not have the power of requisition.

Paul Alauzy specifies that the Reverse of the Medal collective was received “several times” by the Organizing Committee of the Olympic Games (COJO). “They opened the doors of certain ministries to us and we thank them for that. But they say that for human rights, we have to see with the prefectures and the State,” he explains. But the collective “cut the link a little” with the prefectures because the dialogue is not moving forward.

Consequently, the members of Revers de la Medal intend to mobilize during the Olympic and Paralympic Games if the situation “stay frozen until then“. “We would have preferred to take a vacation than to take actions that take us into police custody,” declares Paul Alauzy. He specifies that these actions will be “festive, visible and peaceful”. For him, the Olympics must evolve to become an event “ecological, which takes into account social and humanitarian issues”, he concludes.