Heatwave in France: Homeless aid associations sound the alarm during this "period of great danger"

Homeless advocacy groups are sounding the alarm this Tuesday. Nearly 16 departments are on red alert for heatwaves, including the Paris region, which will have more than 3,500 homeless people in 2024.

These very high temperatures make living conditions for the homeless more difficult. A "period of great danger," according to the Foundation for Housing the Disadvantaged, formerly the Abbé-Pierre Foundation.

With these temperatures, living on the streets increases the risk of dehydration, hyperthermia, and death, particularly in cities lacking homeless services or drinking fountains, emphasizes Manuel Domergue, the Foundation's director of studies.

Another association to be alerted is Utopia 56, which denounces on Instagram that Paris is "suffocating" and has "very few places to shelter from the heat."

An appeal to the authorities

This summer, Paris is experimenting with a "hot weather" plan, which aims to increase the number of outreach workers to provide water and light clothing to the homeless, and to inform them of air-conditioned services open to all.

A "good thing" according to Manuel Domergue, who deplores the fact that this type of action only occurs depending on the temperature: "People don't die specifically from the cold or the heat, they die from being on the streets, the temperatures only increase the underlying problem."

The associations are urging the authorities to act, considering them "responsible" for the "survival" of this particularly vulnerable population. Utopia 56 is calling on the Paris Prefecture and the City Council, calling for " the opening of gymnasiums, middle schools, and high schools, and the requisition of empty buildings to provide shelter" and "a generalization of water distribution and an increase in emergency patrols and patrols."

In Nice, a heatwave plan has been implemented in the event of extreme heat. It includes the opening of an air-conditioned room to "accommodate adults without stable housing." The CCAS (Community Center for Social Services) is planning additional food aid "to compensate for the reduction in summer outreach, and bottled water distribution is being organized in places without drinking fountains."

According to the Foundation for Housing the Disadvantaged, the period from June to August alone accounts for 30% of homeless deaths.