“The means for emergency accommodation are largely insufficient”, warns the Secours populaire du Bas-Rhin

In Strasbourg, the Secours populaire reception is open seven days a week. Warm clothes and blankets are distributed.

“The systems and resources put in place for emergency accommodation are largely insufficient,” alerts Camille Vega, secretary general of the Bas-Rhin Popular Relief Federation, in the face of the very sudden return of the cold on Monday, with an increase on Tuesday. He was the guest of the show Ma France on France Bleu on Monday January 8.

For the next few days and the big cold that will arrive, “our volunteer teams are even more mobilized than usual”, explains the secretary general. In Strasbourg, for example, the Secours populaire day center will be open seven days a week, “so that people can find a place to warm up, be able to have a hot drink, a soup and simply a little comfort.” The association will also distribute warm clothing, sleeping bags, blankets… and calls for the generosity of donors to provide “a minimum amount of equipment for these people to keep warm”.

Children are no longer spared

Several tens of thousands of people sleep outside, according to Secours populaire, with “a large increase in people who are on the street is unheard of in the memory of Secours populairedeplores Camille Vega. In Strasbourg for example, more than 800 people call 115 every day. In Clermont-Ferrand, there are more than double the number of people on the street compared to last year.

“The situation is getting very worse because there are still children on the streetwarns Camille Vega. Until now, they were mostly spared and sheltered. There, at the moment, that is no longer the case, they will be in danger with the cold that is coming. “It’s a big concern on our part.” Secours populaire is calling for emergency shelter and accommodation for these people. “The systems and resources put in place for emergency accommodation are largely insufficient. In Strasbourg for example, for 800 calls, a gymnasium was opened with 80 places. Clearly this is not enough.” The general secretary of Secours populaire also calls for measures “more sustainable for means put in place throughout the year because there is an even greater danger when it is cold, but it is throughout the year that these people must be sheltered and accompanied. The means are clearly insufficient”, regrets Camille Vega.