The issue of emergency housing in the Île-de-France region is not new. In addition to its social policy in Paris and the region, the French state has for several years tried to relieve congestion in the capital by opening places in the provinces.
With 100,000 places in the Paris region, including 55,000 in social hotels, the system is on the verge of collapse. Since the end of the health crisis and the return of tourists in summer 2022, many hotels in the Paris region have decided to withdraw from the emergency housing system. 5,200 overnight stays were thus lost for 2022 alone, according to the Samu Social.
To avoid implosion, French authorities have instituted a new approach to fight homelessness in the capital.
Since spring 2023, ten temporary accommodation centers called SAS have been established across France, in cities such as Toulouse, Bordeaux, Angers, and Strasbourg, with the aim of moving homeless people off the streets of Paris.
In early October, the Paris prefecture banned food distribution by associations in certain arrondissements in the north of the city.
The decision was overturned a week later by the administrative court following the mobilization of around 30 associations.
More than 60 French organizations expressed their disagreement with this approach, condemning the relocation strategy as a form of "social cleansing" orchestrated by the government.
Associations denounce the government's desire to create a "clean" image of Paris before the 2024 Olympic Games.
