00:00 The French government has implemented a new approach to address the homelessness situation
00:07 in Paris. Since last spring, ten temporary shelters have been established across France
00:15 in cities like Toulouse, Bordeaux and Strasbourg, aiming to relocate the homeless from the streets
00:22 of the capital.
00:23 More than 60 organizations sent a letter to the Olympic Games Committee condemning this
00:29 relocation strategy as a social cleansing method. They believe the government intends
00:34 to create a polished image of the capital before the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris. Paul
00:40 Rosy, one of the spokesperson for the collective of associations, explained his concerns to us.
00:46 You can imagine that, for example, I'm a Afghan asylum seeker, I fled the Taliban dictatorship,
00:51 I arrive in Paris, but one day a bus comes to my camp and takes me away. If unfortunately
00:55 I'm not in the right administrative boxes, I'll end up in a region where there will
00:59 potentially be much less assault for medical, social and legal reasons, and so I'll come
01:04 back to Paris.
01:06 In fact, this policy had already taken place, but the GOP has accelerated it because there
01:10 is an imperative to do what they call a clean city. And the work of harassment and
01:15 cleansing is the words of the interior minister. And so we know that this also applies to the
01:19 populations that the state considers as undesirable.
01:21 I'm here in what was once the largest squat in Paris, known as Unibetom, which was dismantled
01:27 by the police in April. More than 400 people, primarily from Chad and Sudan, were evicted
01:33 from this site, which had been occupied for three years. The area is said to be part of
01:38 the Olympic Village for the 2024 Paris Games.
01:41 We met Faris, who was one of the residents of this squat.
02:09 Other shelters for the homeless in the city are also feeling the pressure, as they are
02:14 located in areas designated as Olympic Game Sites.
02:37 The Paris and the France prefecture affirmed to Euronews their commitment to getting these
02:43 individuals off the streets, Olympics or not, with the aim of securing more dignified accommodation
02:50 for them.
02:51 These people face a precarious situation as they are compelled to attend the interviews
02:55 with the prefecture of Paris, a potentially dangerous process for the migrants lacking
03:00 a legal status which could lead to their expulsion from the country.
03:04 (whooshing)
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