EBN- Recent data from an organization that tracks “street dead” has revealed that 735 homeless people will die on the streets of France in 2024.
This is a record number that France has never known before, and it reflects a worsening crisis in the housing sector for vulnerable groups.
The average age of homeless victims is 49, according to the statistical organization.
The results of a study, reported by the C News news channel from the “Housing for the Disadvantaged” organization, formerly known as the “Abbé Pierre” organization, indicate that about 350,000 homeless people in France live without shelter, while 4.2 million people suffer from a fragile housing situation.
The organization criticized government policies for “harsh treatment” of homeless people living in unorganized housing areas such as camps and slums.
She said that the authorities expelled nearly 100,000 people from these temporary areas in 2023, which is also a record number compared to previous years.
Authorities also launched a tougher crackdown in the capital, Paris, and several other major cities in the run-up to the 2024 Olympic Games.
The organization’s report counted between five thousand and eight thousand people, including between one thousand and three thousand children, who are refused admission every night in social shelters due to lack of space, in addition to other large numbers who failed to reach these centers or who contacted by phone.
France is suffering from great pressure on social housing in light of tax increases on the sector, which has led to a decline in the supply of solidarity rent.
In 2023, less than 400,000 social housing units were allocated, while the study says that 2.7 million French families are still on the waiting list for social housing.
