Emmanuel Macron accused of ‘social cleansing’ and ‘hiding poverty’ as homeless camps in Paris are cleared ahead of the Olympics

Standing in front of Paris City Hall and the Olympic Games Host City sign, hundreds of homeless young men know they are not welcome in the French capital.

They all slept rough by the River Seine before riot police stormed in to smash their tents.

Social workers took as many names as possible before they were all herded into coaches and driven hundreds of miles away.

This is now a regular occurrence in Emmanuel Macron’s France, as the president is accused of “social cleansing” and “hiding poverty” in time for the multibillion-dollar Summer Olympics.

“We’re all living in fear – they just don’t want us here,” one rough sleeper who asked to be identified as Okot, 22, told MailOnline.

Okot says he comes from war-torn Sudan and wants to seek asylum in France, but has little hope of shelter while he waits.

“That’s how I ended up on the streets,” he said. ‘It’s not because I’ve had problems with drugs or alcohol.

‘I’ve been in Paris for about six weeks now, but I know plenty of others who have been here much longer.

“We see the Olympic signs everywhere and we know there is no place for us here because of the games.”

President Macron has certainly based his reputation on the success of the Paris 2024 sporting spectacle.

It won’t open until July 26, but the head of state is already calling it ‘a moment of beauty, true art and a celebration of sport and our values’.

These are the first European Games since London 2012, and Macron wants them to be even bigger and better.

This is why the operating budget was set at the equivalent of over £4 billion, and this figure could be doubled to £8 billion when the cost of new buildings, such as a state-of-the-art aquatic centre, is added.

Much of this enormous amount is provided by the private sector, including some of the world’s richest multinationals, such as Paris-based luxury goods group LVMH.

Barges from all participating countries will sail down the River Seine for a glamorous opening ceremony, for which no costs will be deferred.

There are still some tickets available – priced from €1,600 (£1,450) or up to €7,500 (£6,400) for those who want a hospitality package for the event, which lasts just over three hours.

“When people spend that kind of money, they really don’t want poor people to be around,” said Bohdan, who said he is 19 and originally from Ukraine.

‘I am a student who would like to stay in France this summer, and to avoid high costs I always try to sleep in.

“Unfortunately, we are all being told that this will not be possible with the Olympic Games approaching.”

Illegal camps can still be found along the Seine, but there are raids by police most mornings.

One took place in late April a few hundred meters from the town hall, where mainly West Africans slept on the sidewalks near the 15th-century Saint-Gervais Church.

Everyone was told that the 120,000 emergency housing beds in Paris were occupied and that they would be better off in the provinces.

But a new report from a charity called Le Revers de la Medaille (The Other Side of the Coin) claims that evictions are increasing, with more to come in the run-up to the Olympics.

Paul Alauzy, spokesman for the collective, said “things are spiraling out of control” as “evictions and police interventions within future security boundaries” increase.

Many of those evicted from the illegal city hall compound were forced into coaches and told they would be taken to Besançon, more than 250 miles from Paris.

The Revers de la Medaille report claims that Macron’s government is acting similar to Chinese authorities, who cleared homeless people from the streets of Beijing before the 2008 Games.

There was also a similar campaign by Brazil before the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics.

The main aim, according to the charities, is to remove all rough sleeper tents and sleeping bags from Paris before international television crews arrive in July.

The 70 or so tents at City Hall were home to migrants from former French colonies in West Africa, who said they included unaccompanied minors who had a legal right to be housed.

They ended up on the streets after officials disputed their claims that they were under 18 years old.

One, who said he was 15 and from Cameroon, said: ‘We are being attacked by the police who hate us. We increasingly have nowhere to go. Many of us don’t want to get on the coaches because they take us away from Paris and then we have to make a long journey back.’

Figures show that 33 major camp evictions took place in the year to March, compared to 19 in the year to March last year, the new report said.

It also points out that other cities in France involved in the Olympics are being subjected to ‘social cleansing’ aimed at ‘hiding poverty’.

At the end of March, a slum next to the football stadium in Bordeaux, where Olympic football will take place, was cleared.

Luc Viger, head of unaccompanied minors at migrant charity Utopia 56, said camp evacuations were certainly increasing in the run-up to the Olympics.

“We are having the camps evacuated every two to three weeks, while previously it was once every two months,” Mr Viger said.

Spokespeople for the Ville de Paris and the French Ministry of the Interior denied that there was any official policy of “social cleansing” or “hiding poverty”, especially in time for the Olympics.

“The police are obliged to close unauthorized camps for hygienic and safety reasons,” said a spokesperson for Hôtel de Ville.