Posted on 01/04/2007 12:49:03 PM PST by Stoat
PARIS (AFP) - The French government announced plans to create a "legal right" to housing in response to a snowballing campaign that has seen a tent city for the homeless spring up in the heart of Paris.
Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin told a press conference a bill would be presented to the cabinet on January 17 and hopefully adopted before parliament breaks up ahead of April's presidential election.
The law, if passed, would make France the second European country to guarantee the right to housing, after Scotland which adopted similar measures with its 2003 Homeless Act.
President Jacques Chirac used his New Year's address to promise swift government action on a "right to housing" -- a key demand of protestors who have mounted a headline-grabbing campaign in support of France's estimated 100,000 homeless.
Villepin said the government wanted the right to become legally enforceable by 2008 for "people in the most difficult situations: the homeless, but also the working poor and single women with children."
"That is the time necessary to ensure that all the people concerned can be provided with decent lodgings, whether in a transitional shelter or an individual home," he said.
By 2012, the government wants the right to housing to be legally enforceable for all, with a guarantee provided by the state, or in some cases regional or local authorities.
From that point onwards, "every person or family housed in unworthy or unsanitary conditions" will able to take legal action to have their rights enforced, he said.
Villepin said the law would "make France one of the most advanced countries in terms of social rights". Housing would become the third legally enforceable right in France, along with access to education and healthcare.
Four months ahead of presidential elections, with the homeless issue thrust centre-stage, the housing measure was seen as a bid by the centre-right to underscore its commitment to social justice.
The protest wave started last month when a small group of campaigners -- called Les Enfants de Don Quichotte ("The Children of Don Quixote") -- pitched a 200-strong tent camp along a trendy Paris canal, housing homeless people as well as well-heeled citizens prepared to sleep rough for a few days out of solidarity.
Makeshift camps have since sprung up all over France, including in the Mediterranean port of Marseille, the historic town of Orleans, and the southern cities of Lyon and Toulouse.
On Tuesday a group of eight struggling families, backed by campaigners, moved into a vacant office block near the Paris stock exchange, a giant squat they have dubbed a "ministry" for the homeless and ill-housed.
Politicians of all stripes -- including presidential frontrunners Nicolas Sarkozy on the right and Segolene Royal on the left -- had responded on cue, lining up with pledges to tackle the plight of the homeless.
According to the charity Emmaus, one million people in France do not have a home of their own: 100,000 sleep rough, while the rest live in campsites, hotels or shelters. Another two million people have housing "problems".
The "right to housing" measures come in addition to a 70-million-euro (90-million-dollar) emergency plan for the homeless announced last month.
But a spokesman for Segolene Royal, the Socialist presidential frontrunner, warned the government against making "great announcements", saying what was needed was a massive commitment to build more public housing.
Absolutely! Chicago is known for one of the most successful public housing projects in the US - Cabrini Green
France is just trying to keep up with us.
sounds a lot like Minnesota, just change 'sweltering' to 'freezing'.
Sounds like the Paris I know. That Paris was at 3 AM and 40 years ago. Is it like that during the daytime now?
sounds a lot like Minnesota, just change 'sweltering' to 'freezing'.
I don't recall seeing all sorts of news stories about Minnesota grandmas freezing to death because their sons and daughters were off vacationing in Florida, however.
It's been a few years since I was forced to visit, but I haven't read anything suggesting that it's any less than far, far worse today.
At whose expense? The renter's? The seller's? I can see it now:
Well, shoot. I was just reflecting as old people sometimes do that when I was young and seeing the world my best experiences were meeting people on the street and finding they were quite pleased to talk about things. Anywhere: Rome, Berlin, Paris, Istambul, Athens. Nobody was mean, not even the jackbooted gov't thugs; everybody was very pleasant, even in Paris. Granted, the residents of Istambul were somewhat wary because of islamic instability, but friendly, too. Oddly, none of this was in English, but languages are easy on the street if not in class.
Life was far better in many ways decades ago. Much of the decline can be traced directly to the metastasizing of Socialism and all of the negative traits that it instills and promotes in people who might be completely different had they been Blessed with a different culture.
"Josh...get me Speaker Pelosi on the phone please. We've got some bipartisan, working closely with the Democrats to do..."
Please don't be giving him any ideas :-(
state laws prevent shutting off anyone's heat , even if they don't pay their bill.
To a certain extent, yes. there have been a very few instances of tragedies related to this sort of thing in years past, and I think that most states have passed laws forbidding the termination of essential services during periods of extreme weather and temperature. I don't think, however, that this is something that people with nefarious intent can exploit forever. Long-term nonpayments are investigated and services are terminated when it's clear that no danger or harm will result from it.
This is, of course, completely different from the national scandal that has erupted over the past several years in France where hundreds of elderly people have died in the heat due to neglectful and selfish children off on vacation.
The only difference is the outcome and duration and the fact that the US has so many charities and charitable people that if our Congresscritters quit and all went to Mexico, nobody here would starve in the streets.( like the left says will happen every time a republican gets into office.)
I can't understand why when France is 80% nuclear, they can't provide enough cheap power to keep the old folks in the freezer section.
Well, perhaps 60 - 100 years ago it was nice......
"Show me just what Mohammed brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached." - Manuel II Palelologus
Yes, but you still are not allowed to install machinegun turrets around the perimeter to defend your summer property against marauding Muslim hordes
(No, I'm not French; but so what? Neither are these "homeless" they're fretting about!)
It's amusing to note that France, which for so many generations has lectured the rest of the world about how they are such a superior and enlightened culture are so eager to give it all away to 6th century animals.
They will only push that part of their agenda after they repeal the Second Amendment. The healthy, sane American majority simply wouldn't stand for it otherwise.
I'm guessing that they are counting on multiple, massive economic bailouts from the EU and the IMF when their economy completely collapses. That should cover them for a few years....beyond that, I have absolutely no idea. France will become just as appealing to investors as any third-world basketcase nation.
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