Students residing in the Crous d'Île-de-France received a surprising email in May 2023, asking them to vacate their accommodation next summer, during the Paris 2024 Olympic Games. The capital and its region are struggling to find enough places to house all the athletes, partners and volunteers mobilized for the event, between hotels and private accommodation at escalating prices. In fact, some student rooms will be requisitioned during the summer period in 2024, and as compensation, they'll only get 100 euros and two tickets to the Olympic competition!
Usually, a large proportion of students leave their accommodation in July and August, during the vacations. It's possible to stay and pay for the two summer months, and get your accommodation back in time for the start of the new school year, but most leave it vacant. The Crous in the Paris region have therefore sent an e-mail to all those concerned, asking them to give up their studio or apartment for a period of 2 months, from June 30, 2024.
After an outcry on social networks, the Crous clarified that"less than 7% of accommodation is affected by this mobilization". However, students wishing to remain in their accommodation will have to be relocated for the duration of the event, and"temporary accommodationmay be offered". TheAssociation Générale des Étudiants(e)s de Paris (AGEP) had expressed its disagreement with "this student eviction", as had many student unions, and the Paris Administrative Court had ruled in their favor in August, suspending the CROUS decision.
But in the end, 2200 students will still be asked to leave their rooms, according to an interview given to Le Parisien by the Minister of Higher Education, Sylvie Retailleau. She says the idea is to use "3,200 housing units for firefighters, carers, law enforcement and civil security", of which only 1,000 will actually be vacant, without students. While she promises that no young people will end up on the streets, the compensation doesn't pass muster: "100 balls and a mars, Paris 2024 version", deplores elected representative Julien Bayou.
