It is estimated that more than 1.2 million people are homeless in the European Union, a figure that has risen sharply over the last ten years, due in particular to the housing crisis and the worsening economic inequalities on the European continent.

In a joint report authored by Avocats Sans Frontières, FEANTSA and the Fondation Abbé Pierre, under the umbrella of the Campaign to Decriminalise Poverty and Status, note that repressive policies are favoured in all the countries studied. In France, occupying an empty space to sleep is punishable by 2 years’ imprisonment and a €30,000 fine. In Belgium, simply sitting in the street can result in a €350 fine. In Denmark, begging outside a supermarket can land you in prison for 14 days.

These policies are accompanied by discriminatory and stigmatising rhetoric that tends to dehumanise homeless people and portray them as dangerous.

Yet these policies have not proved effective and are even counter-productive, dragging homeless people into a downward spiral of justice and making it even more difficult to reintegrate them into society. They also seriously damage their physical and mental health.