Is it just me or do a lot of political figures go into exile/surgery in Paris?

Factual Questions
1

Right off the top of my head, I don’t have any examples to offer, but it seems like at least on a monthly basis I read something about some deposed African/South American/Asian political leader has been exiled or taken refuge in Paris. I’m not saying they go/are exiled there on a monthly basis, but that I read about one who at some time in, say, the last 50 years taken refuge in Paris.

Is there some political reason for this, or is it just because, well, it’s Paris?

Also, it seems like quite a lot of world figures come to Paris for surgery. Bouteflika. Arafat died there.

Is this just a coincidence that I would see if I paid as much attention to London or New York?

2

In much of the Middle East and Africa, the European language that is spoken most often is French, largely because many of these countries were colonies of France. There are usually significant groups of immigrants in France from all of these countries, many of whom speak the native languages of these countries. It appears that France is pretty easy-going about letting exiles from these countries take refuge in France. If things are too hot for you to just move to the next country, moving to Paris is the obvious thing to do.