'Tent city' shames Paris into helping its homeless

The Independent reports:

A charity that shamed Paris into taking notice of its homeless people claimed victory yesterday after the government promised to spend €7m (£4.7m) on emergency housing in the city.

Médecins du Monde's "tent city" campaign - in which 300 homeless people were given tents to sleep in on the streets of Paris - prompted such outrage and sympathy that government officials were forced to act.

Yesterday - in a rare move for the political summer off-season - the junior minister for employment and social cohesion, Catherine Vaudrin, announced a package for Greater Paris worth €7m aimed at producing 1,270 hostel beds.

Much of the accommodation, she said, would be bedsits where homeless people could settle and not have to move out every morning. Between 2,000 and 5,000 people are estimated to sleep rough on the streets of Paris every night.

Great moments in the French Welfare State.