The Olympic Scandal we should be talking about

In Mid-March, France began moving the homeless out of the capital ahead of the 2024 Games and the Rugby World Cup, which kicks off in September of 2023 in cities throughout France, asking local governments around the nation to provide “temporary regional accommodation facilities” for a stream of the unhoused ahead of the Games. The systemic relocation of “undesirable” populations has unfortunately become as much a part of the Olympic Games as ridiculous mascots and the boondoggle of massive stadiums that sit relatively empty once their two weeks of fame are up. In 2008, the Beijing Summer Games resulted in the displacement of 1.5 million people. In the five years ahead of the 2016 Summer Games, Brazil moved around 77,000 low-income residents out of Rio and forced the homeless out of tourist areas.

In Paris alone, the number of low-cost housing options being replaced by temporary rental units for tourists is staggering. The City of Light boasted about 4,000 Airbnb units in 2012. That number exploded to more than 40,000 units in 2015. Today, that number is closer to 60,000 and is expected to rise as the Games approach.