The French authorities have evicted approximately 450 migrants from an administrative building in Vitry-sur-Seine, a suburb south of Paris, just about 100 days before the city is set to host the Summer Olympics.
France 24 reported that most of the evicted individuals were documented and had been awaiting social housing.
This action has drawn criticism from charity organizations involved with migrant affairs, accusing the French government of trying to clean up its image ahead of the Olympics at the end of July.
These charities believe that the French authorities are trying to clear the capital of migrants to present a better image after having encouraged migrants to board buses to other regions in France.
Most of the 450 migrants, consisting predominantly of young people, including several women with children, were reportedly waiting for buses to take them to cities like Orléans in central France or Bordeaux in the southwest. However, many expressed their reluctance to leave the capital.
This eviction comes in the wake of a new immigration law passed by the French Parliament on December 20th, which received strong support from right-wing parties.
The law reintroduces penalties for undocumented residents and imposes stringent conditions for the regularization of undocumented migrants and family reunification.
It also allows for the denial of residency permits and withdrawal of nationality for failing to adhere to the “principles of the republic.”
Additionally, the law restricts access to social aid, which is now contingent on a minimum residency period (five years for non-workers and 30 months for workers), and ends automatic French citizenship for individuals born in France to foreign parents.
The Tunisian Forum for Economic and Social Rights criticized the new legislation, stating it “enhances hatred against migrants, discriminates against them, and threatens the status of all Tunisian migrants in France, not just the undocumented ones.”
The organization has urged Tunisian authorities to make every effort to protect the rights and dignity of these individuals.
The Tunisian Federation for Citizenship between the Banks described the law as both “dangerous in form and content,” reflecting the policies of the French far-right that have been pushed for three decades.
