A terrible sight has managed to tear through the ornate venue prepared for the upcoming Olympics in Paris. Under the glow of the street lights on the promenades of the city’s central hub, a group of destitute people have huddled, looking for alms and shelter. Their hollow eyes and miserable demeanor starkly contrasted with the bustling crowds exchanging Christmas cheers on the cold streets.

Their tribulations began on April 26, when a riot van full of armed policemen pulled up before a nondescript building in Paris. The migrants had been squatting there for years, but the promulgation of the Olympic Village construction forced them out on the streets. Notwithstanding the season, the sorry sight of this lot has sent shivers down the spine of the athletic community.

Paris Olympics 2024 venue prep leaves migrants on the cold streets

In April, the crowd of migrants shouted, “No expulsion. Resettlement!” in unison. Fast forward to December, the poor migrants are still on the streets, and the cold has choked their once vociferous protests.

Now, they could only hope for some respite as aid workers doled out warm blankets and hot meals. However, it was a shelter they truly needed, as clarified by Aicha, a 20-year-old immigrant. As per reports on Associated Press, she stated, “We sleep here outside or in the metro, but it’s not safe because there are thugs. It’s complicated, we have to negotiate, we have no solution. But it’s not just me, there are lots of families who sleep outside”.

As a 20-year-old immigrant from Mali, Aicha first arrived on French soil in 2020. Subsequently, she gave birth to a baby boy who was born in a nation promising him “Liberté, égalité, fraternité”.

However, the 20-year-old mother’s undocumented status, the same as the fifty others thronging the streets outside City Hall, has complicated the matter.

The plight of migrants outside Paris City Hall

The otherwise glittering Paris City Hall Plaza was full of migrant families begging for alms from the passersby. Among the group were children between the ages of 3 months and 10 years.

The aid workers distributed food, warm clothes, and even temporary lodgings to the suffering group. However, their resources fell short of meeting the needs of all the families.

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Zoe Lafargoutte, an aid worker, said they could find accommodations for about 20-40% of migrants. In such a circumstance, the migrants, majority of whom are Africans, are unable to assimilate within the society despite being fluent in the French language.

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