The Delegate Minister for Housing, Olivier Klein, called on businessmen this Saturday, December 17, to make their disused premises available to the homeless, when they have them, as part of the extreme cold plan.
Call “to companies with unoccupied premises”
It is an appeal “to companies with unoccupied premises”, specified the minister’s entourage, who added that these places would then be “managed by the State, and homeless people accompanied by associations and authorized social workers”.
Asked about the association’s estimate that at least 2,000 children sleep outdoors every night, the minister replied that it was “difficult to quantify” and assured that the government’s “mobilization” was “impeccable.”
Extreme cold plan launched in four regions
The cold weather plan to accommodate more homeless people was launched in Paris last Monday, with regional prefects invited to identify potential places to do the same.
On Saturday, four regions in total had activated this plan – Ile-de-France, Grand Est, Normandy, Rhône-Alpes – and at the same time 53 departments “reinforced” looting, the minister’s entourage said.
The extreme cold plan is activated when the minimum felt temperatures drop to very low levels.
It consists of opening emergency shelters in public buildings that are not normally set up for this purpose, such as gyms or schools, in order to protect the homeless.
The prefects can also increase the human and financial resources dedicated to loitering or to 115, the emergency number for the homeless.
In 2021, the Morts de la Rue collective identified at least 620 homeless people who died on the streets.
Source: BFM TV
