Shanty towns and Gypsies fall foul of World Cup

French authorities have been accused of staging a "brutal" clean-up to hide the underbelly of society from Rugby World Cup fans, razing shanty towns of Gypsies, moving rough sleepers in Paris and forcing out the homeless rag-and-bone men that work in the capital's flea markets. As the contest opens at the gleaming Stade de France in the north Paris suburb of Saint-Denis, France eagerly awaits 1.6 million visitors who will pump millions of dollars into the tourist industry over six weeks. Rugby fans spend more per head than football supporters, and many have arrived in search of champagne tours, foie gras tastings and a glimpse of la belle France. But charities say the government's quest to make France look beautiful has included ruthlessly "cleansing" the vulnerable from areas where they might be seen by fans. Homeless people in Paris who say they have been told to move on before the rugby are planning to protest this weekend. Near the stadium in Saint-Denis, police this week cleared around 600 Romanian Gypsies from a shantytown where they had been living for more than a year. The shacks, made from scraps of wood and plastic sheeting in a disused factory compound without proper sanitation or rubbish collection, threatened to be an eyesore for corporate hospitality tents. Bernard Moriau, a doctor from Médecins du Monde who worked with the Gypsies, told the Guardian: "It is a catastrophe." He said the families were moved in a "very brutal way;" at least 400 of them had disappeared and would probably resurface in other shanties north of Paris with no electricity or water. His work treating tuberculosis and diabetes, and vaccinating children had been disrupted. He said when the renowned circus company Cirque du Soleil performed in the area this year, they had allowed the Gypsy camp to remain and shared their water. "On the eve of the Rugby World Cup, the government seems to want to hide the misery of the Roma by systematically evacuating Roma camps," Médecins du Monde said in a statement, citing mass evictions around Lyon and near Saint-Etienne, where the Scottish team is based. Malik Salemkour, deputy president of the French Human Rights League, said: "France wants to pretend these people don't exist and make itself look beautiful instead of dealing with its problems." Afid, 45, homeless for 10 years, is one of the bric-a-brac collectors who restore objects found in bins and doorways in the chic areas of Paris to sell in the capital's flea markets. For a year he has lived in a wooden shack that he built under Paris's ring-road, with no running water. "The police said I had to be out by Friday because of the rugby. It's inhumane, but they want to pretend there's no misery in Paris," he told the Guardian. "I've always hated rugby, but I really loathe it now that people can be left with no shelter." Two homeless support groups said people sleeping rough or in tents in central Paris had been told to move on by police and threatened with fines if they returned. Hotel owners who temporarily housed homeless people had reportedly told them to leave to make room for fans. As homeless people prepared protests for this weekend, the Saint-Denis prefecture denied it had evicted Gypsies because of the World Cup. The interior ministry said decisions were made by local authorities, not central government. Jean-Baptiste Eyraud of the group Right to Housing said local authorities had been forced to review eviction threats because of the controversy. "Now we need the support of the rugby players," he said.