PARIS: A French minister on Saturday urged firms with unused office space to make some of it available to homeless people as the country endures a bitterly cold winter snap.
“I am appealing to bosses who have offices they are no longer using which could be swiftly made available to help the homeless,” Housing Minister Olivier Klein told France Inter radio.
Temperatures across much of the country have fallen several degrees below freezing at times over recent days.
Some associations estimate that more than 2,000 children are currently sleeping rough in France although Klein insisted the government had “mobilised” to respond to the issue.
He added it was “difficult to put a figure” on the extent of the problem.
Klein said firms with unoccupied office space could make some of it available, adding the state and charitable associations would manage their use to help people with nowhere to go.
On Monday, regional French authorities met to determine how to make unused public buildings available as emergency shelter to those without a roof over their heads.
Four regions, including the Ile de France region comprising Paris and its surroundings, launched a plan to that effect on Saturday.
Housing ministry spokespeople said similar efforts were being made in 53 departments of the country.
The Morts de la Rue (Street Deaths) association estimated at least 620 homeless people died across France last year.