ByNina BournewithAFP
Published on
The heatwave continues to batter France, with 61 départements still on red alert for extreme heat on Friday. A slight improvement is expected from Saturday, when the alert is due to be lifted in 13 départements in the center and south-west of the country.
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Temperatures nevertheless remain exceptionally high, and people are resorting to every possible means to cope with the heat: air conditioning, water and showers – options that rough sleepers do not have, leaving them largely unable to escape the hard, concrete landscape of the streets.
High mortality in summer too
In Marseille, Francis Vernède, regional president of the Fondation pour le Logement des Défavorisés, which works on housing for disadvantaged people, goes out on outreach rounds to try to help them.
“They are extremely vulnerable all year round. People tend to think about the homeless more in winter, but in reality their mortality rate is just as high – if not higher – in summer. So heat is a major issue,” he says.
“Today in Marseille it is extremely hot. And it is very difficult for dozens, if not hundreds of people sleeping outside, who endure punishing temperatures at night and who, during the day, are forced to look for small patches of shade – and those are not always available,” he continues.
Valentin, a young man living on the streets, says he starts looking for shade from the early hours of the morning, for himself and his dogs. “In the morning we stay in the shade until the cops turn up and tell us to move on because, supposedly, we’re a nuisance in public spaces. Then we just walk round and round looking for another spot in the shade, to keep the dogs out of the heat so they don’t burn,” he says.
“It’s true that mornings are really tough. If you don’t drink, at some point you can get heatstroke,” admits Bastien, who is also sleeping rough.
Francis Vernèdeis calling on Housing Minister Vincent Jeanbrun and Social Affairs Minister Jean-Pierre Farandou to act. “This is not a matter of budget, it is a question of dignity and survival for these people“, he stresses.
According to the campaign group Les Morts de la rue, almost 30% of deaths among homeless people occur during the summer months.