Serge Grouard, the mayor of Orléans in Loiret, expressed his anger at the recent arrival of several hundred migrants who have been transferred from Paris in a stealthy manner. According to him, these migrants are being expelled from the capital in view of the upcoming Olympic Games and relocated to several cities, including his own, without the knowledge of the municipal teams.
During a press conference on Monday, March 25, 2024, Serge Grouard denounced the situation, stating that Orléans is not meant to become a new “crack hill” from Paris. He mentioned that without official information, he gathered data from associations and the city’s social services to estimate the number of migrants arriving in Orléans.
In an interview with France 3 Centre-Val-de-Loire, Serge Grouard explained that every three weeks, a bus arrives from Paris with around 500 people who are brought to Orléans by the state. Upon arrival, the migrants are taken care of by an association and placed in hotels where they are accommodated for three weeks at the state’s expense. After this period, if the social facilities are crowded, they are no longer provided shelter, leaving them on their own.
Serge Grouard expressed his frustration at the lack of transparency surrounding this issue. He mentioned that other cities like Strasbourg and Angers are also affected by these transfers. The mayor demanded clarifications from the Minister of the Interior to understand the situation better.
Floriane Varieras, deputy to the Green mayor of Strasbourg, also raised concerns about the lack of consultation and information regarding the establishment of reception centers for migrants. She echoed the sentiment of the mayor of Orléans regarding the opaque nature of the situation.
In response to criticisms and accusations of social cleansing in the Paris region ahead of the Olympics, the government initiated the creation of temporary reception centers across France to accommodate individuals taken care of during shelter operations in the Île-de-France region. These efforts aim to create about 500 places in new facilities in various regions, excluding certain areas like Hauts-de-France, Île-de-France, and Corsica.
