Homeless tents in Paris, in April 2021 (illustration). – SIPA
The Covid-19 epidemic requires, the unprecedented effort made to help the homeless will continue for at least ten more months. The government announced Friday that it would keep the 43,000 emergency accommodation places created since the first lockdown open until the end of March 2022.
“We will not put anyone back on the street at the end of the winter break”, which will therefore be exceptionally extended this year until June 1, 2021, the Ministry of Housing told AFP, explaining “to perpetuate” the places created for one year “until the end of March 2022”.
What to relieve the associations, which feared a return to the street of these 43,000 people accommodated in emergency, half thanks to agreements with a hotel industry in lack of tourists, in order to respond to the unprecedented situation caused by the new coronavirus and the injunction given to everyone to confine themselves.
“These places must be permanently perpetuated”
In total, more than 200,000 homeless are currently accommodated in accommodation centers or hotels. Maintaining the places created since March 2020 will cost 690 million euros, which should bring the annual budget devoted to emergency accommodation to 2.9 billion, according to the ministry.
This decision above all suspends the management of places “with the thermometer”, long criticized by associations. The general delegate of the Abbé Pierre Foundation, Christophe Robert thus welcomes the end of an “inhuman operating mode”, which consisted in sheltering the most precarious in winter before sending them back into the streets each spring.
Beyond March 2022, “these places must be permanently perpetuated”, believes Florent Guéguen for his part. “Vigilant” on this objective, the director general of the Federation of Solidarity Actors (FAS) admits however “confident”: difficult according to him to imagine Emmanuel Macron putting thousands of people back on the street next year, on the eve of the presidential election.
Rental evictions, a “time bomb”
“The Covid has created new poor people, and despite the accommodation efforts made, many isolated single men have been left behind,” recalls Mr. Guéguen, stressing that “thousands” of calls to Samu Social ( 115) still lead to a refusal of accommodation every evening.
With the end of the winter break on June 1, the associations also fear the resumption of rental evictions, which they qualify as a “time bomb”, after the exceptional measures taken to limit them in 2020. According to the Abbé Pierre Foundation, more 30,000 households could be threatened in 2021 with an eviction involving the intervention of the police, i.e. double the years preceding the pandemic.
A situation anticipated by the Minister for Housing Emmanuelle Wargon, who recently issued a circular asking the prefects that any eviction be accompanied by a proposal for rehousing or accommodation. Thirty million additional euros were also allocated for the housing solidarity funds of the departments, intended to finance aid to prevent unpaid debts.