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France feels pangs of guilt over deaths of homeless
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Matthew Townsend
Dec 1, 1998, 3:00:00 AM12/1/98
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Jon Henley in Paris
>
>France was forced to delve deep into its social conscience last week after
10 homeless people died of hypothermia, one of them outside the doors of a
hospital, in a cold snap in which temperatures in central Paris plummeted to
minus 6C.
>As the death toll rose, the French president Jacques Chirac demanded that
"in this crucial period, everyone should feel personally concerned. The
simple gesture of pointing out a person in danger could save a life."
>His employment and solidarity minister, Martine Aubry, exhorted every
French man and woman to open their eyes to the suffering of the homeless.
>According to official estimates, France has some 500,000 people who are
either homeless or without a fixed address, even though it has one of the
best-funded welfare systems in western Europe.The number of emergency hostel
beds totals 15,000 -- more than double the figure of 10 years ago, and
almost enough, say social workers, to deal with demand. But not quite."It is
a scandal that in 1998, men and women are still living and dying in the
street," said one charity worker. "It is not because the weather is freezing
now that we denounce it. It is neither a new scandal nor even an
intermittent one. It is, dramatically and unacceptably, a daily scandal."
>Earlier this year, the national assembly passed an anti-poverty bill aimed
at delivering on President Chirac's 1995 campaign promise to heal what he
called then the "immense social fracture" between rich and poor in France.
>"We want to give those who are being left on the roadside the means of
taking their fate into their own hands . . . rather than to hand out cheques
that merely allow them to survive," Ms Aubry said of the bill.
>An estimated 10 per cent of France's 60 million people currently live below
the poverty line. More than 3 million are unemployed, some 6 million receive
welfare handouts and 2 million are poorly housed. Fully one quarter of
French people say they have renounced some kind of medical care because of
the expense.
>At an estimated cost of $800 million, the legislation calls for the
creation of 300,000 minimum-wage jobs over five years, the construction of
100,000 subsidised housing units, the requisitioning of empty apartments to
house the homeless, and better access to health care for the needy. But even
the law's most fervent supporters admit it will take years before its
effects are felt.
>For the volunteers manning the emergency hostels in Paris, the main problem
appeared to be that those most in need did not know what they were entitled
to. "There are enough beds now," said Patrick Herve, manager of a 380-bed
hostel. "No one should be freezing to death on the street. But so many don't
know where to go."
>With the temperature back above zero later in the week, Stephane, a
37-year-old vagrant begging outside Concorde metro station, agreed that beds
were not the issue. "Sure, you can find one," he said. "But the decent
hostels are full by three or four in the afternoon, and you have to trail
all round the city looking for a mattress. That's our life -- we trail
around for food, for a bed, for our laundry. It's not surprising, when it
gets to midnight and it's minus 6, that some people just give up."
>l The Washington Post reported last week that the average French citizen
gives just 0.15 per cent of his gross income to charity, compared with twice
that amount in Germany, and eight times that in the United States, where the
average donation is a heart-warming 1.2 per cent of gross income. Part of
the problem is the French tax system, which limits deductions to just 6 per
cent of income (the figure is 50 per cent in the US).
>The Guardian Weekly Volume 159 Issue 23 for week ending December 6, 1998,
Page 7
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>France was forced to delve deep into its social conscience last week after
10 homeless people died of hypothermia, one of them outside the doors of a
hospital, in a cold snap in which temperatures in central Paris plummeted to
minus 6C.
>As the death toll rose, the French president Jacques Chirac demanded that
"in this crucial period, everyone should feel personally concerned. The
simple gesture of pointing out a person in danger could save a life."
>His employment and solidarity minister, Martine Aubry, exhorted every
French man and woman to open their eyes to the suffering of the homeless.
>According to official estimates, France has some 500,000 people who are
either homeless or without a fixed address, even though it has one of the
best-funded welfare systems in western Europe.The number of emergency hostel
beds totals 15,000 -- more than double the figure of 10 years ago, and
almost enough, say social workers, to deal with demand. But not quite."It is
a scandal that in 1998, men and women are still living and dying in the
street," said one charity worker. "It is not because the weather is freezing
now that we denounce it. It is neither a new scandal nor even an
intermittent one. It is, dramatically and unacceptably, a daily scandal."
>Earlier this year, the national assembly passed an anti-poverty bill aimed
at delivering on President Chirac's 1995 campaign promise to heal what he
called then the "immense social fracture" between rich and poor in France.
>"We want to give those who are being left on the roadside the means of
taking their fate into their own hands . . . rather than to hand out cheques
that merely allow them to survive," Ms Aubry said of the bill.
>An estimated 10 per cent of France's 60 million people currently live below
the poverty line. More than 3 million are unemployed, some 6 million receive
welfare handouts and 2 million are poorly housed. Fully one quarter of
French people say they have renounced some kind of medical care because of
the expense.
>At an estimated cost of $800 million, the legislation calls for the
creation of 300,000 minimum-wage jobs over five years, the construction of
100,000 subsidised housing units, the requisitioning of empty apartments to
house the homeless, and better access to health care for the needy. But even
the law's most fervent supporters admit it will take years before its
effects are felt.
>For the volunteers manning the emergency hostels in Paris, the main problem
appeared to be that those most in need did not know what they were entitled
to. "There are enough beds now," said Patrick Herve, manager of a 380-bed
hostel. "No one should be freezing to death on the street. But so many don't
know where to go."
>With the temperature back above zero later in the week, Stephane, a
37-year-old vagrant begging outside Concorde metro station, agreed that beds
were not the issue. "Sure, you can find one," he said. "But the decent
hostels are full by three or four in the afternoon, and you have to trail
all round the city looking for a mattress. That's our life -- we trail
around for food, for a bed, for our laundry. It's not surprising, when it
gets to midnight and it's minus 6, that some people just give up."
>l The Washington Post reported last week that the average French citizen
gives just 0.15 per cent of his gross income to charity, compared with twice
that amount in Germany, and eight times that in the United States, where the
average donation is a heart-warming 1.2 per cent of gross income. Part of
the problem is the French tax system, which limits deductions to just 6 per
cent of income (the figure is 50 per cent in the US).
>The Guardian Weekly Volume 159 Issue 23 for week ending December 6, 1998,
Page 7
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
Matthew Townsend
Barrister & Accredited Mediator
Lecturer in Environmental Law, Victoria University of Technology
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