France’s homeless wrap up to survive at freezing year’s end

In the biting cold, homeless friends Danish and Sylvain walked briskly in the dark toward the hot food distribution point, wringing their hands together, their huge backpacks slumped over their shoulders.

“If you stop, the cold seeps into your bones. As long as we walk, we generate heat,” said the 50-year-old Pakistani Dane, who wanted to withhold his surname to avoid embarrassing his France-based family.

Temperatures in France have fallen in recent weeks, and temperatures are expected to hover around zero in many areas on New Year’s Eve.

Many parts of France, including Paris, have increased shelter beds to help the homeless, but reports have already emerged of some freezing to death.

Sylvain, 52, said he and his friend check the weather forecast on their phones every night to be best prepared.

The Frenchman, who did not want to give his surname to protect his three children, said he wore six layers of T-shirt, sweater, fleece, vest and two jackets.

“The trick is to make sure there is air between the layers. If it’s too tight, there’s no insulation,” he said.

She also wears tights and two pairs of socks, which she complements with a beanie, a cap, and a feathered hat with a flap.

“You lose heat from the top of your head,” he said.

He said neither he nor his friend Danish drank alcohol.

“It numbs you so you don’t know when you’re cold and you can slip through the night,” Sylvain said.

-‘Sleep without fear’-

This winter has already proven deadly.

A homeless man was found lifeless on a street in Paris on Sunday, likely frozen to death, a police source said. He was staying in a nearby shelter.

A 35-year-old homeless man was found dead in the northern city of Reims on Christmas Day, the prosecutor said.

There are no new official figures on homelessness in France. But the Housing Trust, a charity, estimates that 350,000 people have no permanent home; These include 20,000 people across the country who are rough sleeping. Most of those in Paris are undocumented immigrants.

More than 900 homeless people have died throughout the year in 2024, with an average age of 47, according to the charity Dead in the Street.

Paris officials say they have set up emergency shelters in gyms and schools to help during the cold wave, and charities are adding beds to their facilities.

Volunteers distribute hot meals at a charity shelter in Paris that provides beds for more than 370 people on seven floors.

Nakunzi Fumiasuca, 36, from the Democratic Republic of Congo, said she lived in a tent until she was offered a bed.

“I can sleep here without fear,” he said.

Taha Nouri, 32, who came to France from Libya in 2021, arrived after the charity brought him and said he could stay for a week.

“I was able to shower, eat well, see a doctor and get medication,” he said.

But Danish and Sylvain say their calls to the helpline to seek asylum never went through.

Instead, they sleep rough in one of Paris’ main train stations, always trying to make sure no one steals their blankets.

“When one gets stolen and it’s cold, it’s a disaster,” Sylvain said. “Your only option is to take the night bus around Paris until the morning.”

– ‘Time stopped’ –

Danish said that he came to France with his father 30 years ago and worked as a waiter, but found himself on the street after an argument with his boss 3 months ago.

“Sometimes I feel so ashamed,” he said. “I don’t want my family to see me like this.”

Sylvain said he worked as a cleaner for 15 years before a painful separation from his wife pushed him onto the street in 2022.

He said his three children were aged eight, 12 and 16 when he left.

“Time stopped,” he said.

He talks to them on the phone every week, but tells them he’s “staying with a friend.”

The two men plan their lives around the capital’s free food deliveries until they find a solution.

Sylvain said it’s difficult to stay clean because public bathrooms are often closed or have no hot water.

But the Dane insisted that they do their best with cold water.

Sometimes there can be nice surprises. Last week a charity gave Sylvain what it said was “a real gift”.

“It had everything in it: hat, toothpaste, cotton swabs and even perfume; not the cheap kind,” he said.

But over the weekend, Sylvain said he had to remove two teeth himself to stop the throbbing toothache.

“I gave them a good tug and everything is fine now,” he said.

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