Plus de 2.000 enfants à la rue en France, déplorent des associations
More than 2,000 children are sleeping on the streets in France due to a lack of available emergency accommodation, a number that has been rising sharply for several years, according to a barometer published Thursday by UNICEF France and the Federation of Solidarity Actors (FAS).
"Every year, we note with outrage that a growing number of children are sleeping on the streets, exposed to undignified living conditions and daily dangers," laments Adeline Hazan, president of UNICEF France.
"What is sorely lacking today is neither resources nor expertise, but rather a firm political will to put an end to the unacceptable," she adds.
At least 2,159 children, including 503 under the age of three, were left without accommodation overnight between August 18 and 19 after their parents called 115, the emergency number for homeless people.
The number of homeless children has increased by 6% compared to last year and by 30% compared to 2022. They are present throughout France, particularly in Île-de-France, Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes, and Occitanie.
A situation which can be explained by the saturation of emergency accommodation facilities, combined with a housing crisis, according to the associations.
"Very alarming," the barometer data are nevertheless underestimated, point out UNICEF France and the FAS: they do not include families who have given up on calling 115, nor those living in squats or shantytowns. Unaccompanied minors are also not counted.
"This is a dramatic and unacceptable situation. Homelessness is not inevitable; solutions exist," Nathalie Latour, director general of the FAS, told AFP. She particularly mentioned investments needed in social housing and emergency accommodation.
A report published in July by three general inspectorates found that France's emergency accommodation program suffers from chronic under-budgeting and a lack of oversight that prevents it from meeting all the demands.
In 2024, this program represented €2.3 billion for 203,000 places in general accommodation structures. A number that has stabilized since 2021.
The associations are calling for the creation of 10,000 additional places, including a thousand for pregnant women or those leaving maternity wards.
In February, around twenty of them filed two legal actions against the State for "culpable failure" in the fight against poor housing.
Commentaires (4)
Ah oui, des petits talibés français ? Il ne restait plus que cela.
Non, arrivée sur le sol français sans papier avec des enfants voilà ce que ça donne et les associations dénoncent tout cela .
Avant de s'occuper des enfants sdf en France occupons-nous de nos petits talibés qui sillonent nos rues par dizaines de milliers .
Nos 2 toréadors gouvernants fernent les yeux sur cette honte nationale jamais erradiquée.
2000 dans toute la France ? Rien qu'à la SICAP il y en a plus !
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