France’s biggest squat cleared by authorities as Paris Olympics near

With the Paris Olympic Games 100 days away, police have carried out a large-scale eviction at France’s biggest squat in the south of the capital.

Authorities, including dozens of gendarmes, cleared out the camp at an abandoned bus company HQ in Vitrysur-Seine yesterday.

The camp was home to about 450 migrants, and images of the eviction spread rapidly on social media.

Aid workers say the broader effort by Paris authorities to clear out migrants and other people sleeping rough before the Olympics is troubling, as those evicted get no longerterm housing assistance.

“The squat was the biggest in France. It doubled in size in one year because of the Olympics. Last year, authorities cleared out migrants from the nearby Olympic Village, and many displaced people came here,” said Paul Alauzy, of the humanitarian organisation Medecins du Monde.

Although the operation will last several days, the site is currently empty: 150 people left before the police arrived, while 300 were evicted before 8am yesterday. Among the 450 were 20 children and 50 women, the aid group said.

Advocacy groups working with the homeless and other vulnerable populations have been particularly vocal about the accelerated pace of camp clearances as the Games approach.

Yesterday, observers said some five buses were at the site, intended to take migrants to allocated sites in cities such as Orleans or Bordeaux.

Mr Alauzy said he fears “it will just be a matter of days or weeks for many of the migrants to be sleeping rough on the street again”.

Gendarmes in action as they start to clear the squat.