France to increase airport border guards for Paris 2024
Authorities announced on Tuesday that during the Olympic Games, France will deploy 1,900 more border guards at Paris airports and intensify efforts against clandestine taxis.
The Minister of the Interior, Gerald Darmanin, stated that these additional control personnel will enable “100% of the controls to be conducted upon arrival and departure” at Paris airports. At a press briefing held at Roissy/Charles de Gaulle airport, Darmanin also announced an escalated crackdown on clandestine taxis operating around the airfields.
“We have had 85% of arrests and additional controls in recent weeks,” the official emphasised when explaining the need to enhance security for tourists and delegations. The “airport experience” will be “the first and last memory that the athletes, the media from around the world and the many visitors take away,” said his Sports counterpart, Amelie Oudea-Castera.
In addition to the 64,000 accredited individuals, there will be an extra 200,000 visitors daily at Roissy-Charles de Gaulle airport, and 100,000 at Orly. Augustin de Romanet, the president of the ADP group, which oversees Paris airports, cautioned against flying on 26 July, the start of the Olympic Games.
“This day, on the occasion of the opening ceremony on the banks of the Seine in Paris, the airspace will be closed “for six hours,”‘ he said. The Games in Paris are scheduled until 11 August. Following an attack at a Moscow concert hall on 22 March, which resulted in the loss of at least 144 lives, security alert levels have been elevated to their highest point.
For the opening ceremony on 26 July, a departure from tradition as it will be held along the Seine River instead of the main stadium, nearly 45,000 police officers and gendarmes will be deployed in the Paris region. Throughout the duration of the games, 18,000 French military troops will be in deployment, with 3,000 tasked specifically for aerial surveillance. This is in addition to approximately 35,000 police officers and gendarmes.
In March, Germany announced plans to dispatch an undisclosed number of police officers to France for the Olympics. Conversely, French forces are slated to travel to Germany for the Euro 2024 football tournament in June and July. Last year, during the rugby World Cup in France, European allies dispatched 160 police officers to assist with security measures, the official remarked. Some of these officers were visibly present to fans as they patrolled the streets.
French organisers have continually faced scrutiny regarding their choice to host the opening ceremony outside the athletics stadium, marking the first instance of such a decision. The Olympics have previously experienced attacks, notably in 1972 in Munich and again in 1996 in Atlanta. The presence of thousands of athletes, large crowds, and a global television audience renders it a target.