Two days before the 2024 Paris Olympics, dozens of homeless families are camping in front of the town hall of the 18th arrondissement

With misty eyes behind her sunglasses, Amina, a 35-year-old mother, tries to “stay positive” despite the difficult night she just had. “There were four of us under a blanket, surrounded by the noise of cars and the wind that made everything fly away.”she says, among the homeless families who spent the night from Tuesday to Wednesday July 24 on Place Jules Joffrin, in front of the town hall of the 18th arrondissement of Paris.

Stuck next to her, her two children, aged 2 and 4, have drawn features. “They didn’t understand what we were doing there, they fell asleep crying”she explains, as her husband rests after a full night of watching. Around them, on floor mats, blankets and emergency blankets, the parents wait in the full sun, watching their children play tag or scare pigeons. “This morning we counted 236 people, including a hundred minors”relates Yann Manzi, general delegate of Utopia 56, a French association that helps refugees and illegal immigrants. Among them, many young children, including a three-week-old baby.

The night before, Amina could have called the social emergency number 115, as she has been doing for a year. “But what’s the point? I often spend two or three hours on it, and it almost never works.she breathes. I tell them I’m outside with a blanket, that they could at least take my children. They tell me no.” After losing their home, the small family was put up by relatives, who then had to move. Nights in shelters and in tents then followed one after the other.

“The problem is, people don’t pay attention to us. They think maybe we’re camping in the parks?”Amina smiled bitterly. “We were tired of being invisible, it had to change.” By organizing themselves, the families decided to come to the town hall. “It was either that or sleep at Charles de Gaulle airportconfides Amina. But I wanted to show myself, to say that we exist.”Two days before the opening ceremony of the Paris 2024 Games, the mobilization also made more sense in the capital. “Paris will welcome the whole world, but we remain without a home, always having to move, Amina laments. It’s very hard for the children, and for those who are on the street even though they have a job.”

Sitting a few metres away from her on the gate of the merry-go-round in the square, Mohamed, in his thirties, is one of these precarious workers. “I am in the building, but not declared”he reports, his face gloomy. Since April and a rental eviction, he has been on the street with his wife and their five children, aged 1 to 7. In recent months, the “police pressure” has increased “on those who sleep in tents”he says.

“What we are experiencing is a tragedy. But a hidden tragedy, describes Mohamed. We are always asked to leave, not to make too much noise.” For him, the reception of 115 is “too limited”because families have to leave the premises during the day. “On the phone, we were also told that there were fewer places in hotels because of the Olympic Games.”he adds. It is also difficult to leave for one of the temporary reception centers in the region, because he would then lose his small jobs gleaned around the capital. “What we want is just respect for dignity. Is that too much?”he asks, his eyes wide.

As the church chimes 11 o’clock, the sun is getting heavier and heavier on the square. As bewildered passers-by look on, some homeless people rearrange their makeshift mattresses. A mother wipes her children’s faces with a wipe, while her neighbors chat with the Utopia 56 volunteers, who have been taking turns since the day before.

“This morning, we had to bring instant coffee, hot water, diapers, baby foodlists Sara, a volunteer with the association for a month. It’s brave of these families to demonstrate here, so we help them organize and we’re there in case the police intervene.” On the outskirts of the square, municipal police officers and plainclothes officers are monitoring the camp from a safe distance. After a night outside, a count was finally carried out by the city of Paris.

“These problems of housing and insecurity existed of course before the Olympic Games. But the organization of the Olympic Games accelerated the misery, by evicting thousands of people without offering them a lasting solution.”

Sara, volunteer with Utopia 56

to franceinfo

“When I see the money that was spent on the Olympics, I find it even harder to see these families on the streets.”confides Sara, who is having a hard time digesting the 1.4 billion euros released to clean the Seine. “These are couples I know, there are pregnant women, people who were moved from their squats, just because we didn’t want to have them in the Games landscape”complains the 22-year-old student. “In the name of brand image, we sacrifice social issues, which is a shame for a sporting competition that everyone enjoys.”

In the occupied square, the families want to show their determination. “I will not move until a real solution is offered to my family”warns Amina, who would like to be able to “Finally [se] to set down” and work thanks to her diploma in the field of early childhood. With her unfortunate neighbors, they can count on the support of some local residents. “Are you okay? What do you need for food?”asks Christine, a retiree who has lived in the neighborhood for 30 years. The volunteers thank her, and she offers to come back in the afternoon. “Although it would be nice if you had a roof over your head until then!”she says, earning a few hopeful smiles.