France Faces Criticism for Migrant Transfers Ahead of Paris Olympics

Mayors and NGOs express outrage over the relocation of migrants from Paris to rural areas, citing lack of consultation and potential social impact.

Mayors from rural and small-town France are increasingly frustrated with the transfer of migrants from Paris, linking it to pre-Olympic clean-up efforts.
Serge Grouard, mayor of Orleans, highlights the lack of prior knowledge and support for migrants, who are left to fend for themselves after three weeks.
French President Emmanuel Macron supports dispersing asylum seekers nationwide to counteract urban concentration and aid demographic transition in declining rural areas.
Critics, including right-wing politicians and 80 French charities, denounce the transfers as 'social cleansing' and warn of introducing poverty and crime into traditional communities.
France recorded over a million asylum requests in 2023, the second-highest in the EU, amid ongoing debates over its migration and asylum policies.