Anger as police clear homeless from tents along banks of Seine

PARIS (AFP): Security forces in Paris have evicted some 400 people living in tents along the River Seine as rising waters threatened to flood its banks. Rights groups say the move is part of a broader attempt to remove homeless and migrant populations ahead of the Olympic Games.

The Pont Neuf bridge seen from the flooded banks of the river Seine in Paris, 5 March 2024. Police evacuated over 400 people living in tents along the banks as the water continued to rise.

The Paris prefecture on Wednesday said it removed people living “illegally” along the river.

“Some tents are directly threatened by the rising waters,” it warned, adding the lives of occupants were in danger.

Migrant and homeless rights groups denounced the lack of temporary housing offered to those displaced.

“The pre-Olympic Games manhunt has started,” wrote Utopia 56, a group that provides services to homeless migrants, on X.

They are part of the Other Side of the Medal, an umbrella group with 80 members that have been warning about a “social cleansing” in Paris ahead of the Games.

In November last year, they launched their campaign to draw attention to the consequences of the Olympics on disadvantaged residents.

In an open letter to the organisers, they wrote, “The Games will cause profound upheaval in the city, with a very negative impact on these people’s lives: eviction of the homeless, fewer places in emergency shelters, closure of reception services, decrease in food distribution, and so on.”

Demonstrations in towns and rural areas have broken out following the transfer of Paris’ homeless to temporary accommodation centres in provincial France ahead of the games.

But the French government has denied having a “zero homeless” target for the Olympics, saying that additional accommodation for rough sleepers will be part of their legacy.

Brazilian campaign groups also said Rio de Janeiro’s homeless were being forced out of tourist areas in the middle of the night as the city hosted the games in 2016.

The Paris Olympics are set to run from 26 July to 11 August, followed by the Paralympics from 28 August to 8 September.