Homeless offered refuge aboard cruise ship in Bordeaux

A cruise ship has been welcoming up to a hundred people in vulnerable situations every evening, in an operation launched by the French state in partnership with an association until the end of the winter period.

The initiative has made it possible to offer more than 2,000 accommodation places in the Bordeaux area this winter, according to the local authority, which says this number has increased by 36 per cent since 2017.

The ship - open from 4.30 p.m. to 8.30 a.m. -  offers beneficiaries a night in a single or double cabin as well as meals. During the day, they must vacate the rooms until the evening in order to ensure upkeep and maintenance.

Access is conditional on a call to 115, the emergency number for homeless people. As soon as they arrive, the beneficiaries are taken care of by 'a trained team, which follows them in their procedures', says Uriel Thollas, director of the Diaconat emergency center which manages the site.

The accommodation contract is for 15 days, "renewable according to defined criteria, such as the progress of the integration procedures," he adds.

Ismaël, 41, who arrived two days earlier in the boat, says he is 'dreaming when he gets up in the morning' in this former Garonne river cruise ship, which he says "is nothing like" the emergency accommodation he experienced in the past.

Mr El Houssine, 67, retired and homeless since 2018, 'warmly thanks' this welcome and support. "I don't feel alone, thanks to young people who opened their hearts to me," he says.

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The project benefits from a "consequent financial commitment to the tune of 608,000 euros ($670,000) entirely supported by the state," says Gironde regional prefect Étienne Guyot, who adds that it was supported "from its birth" by the Bordeaux mayor and its Communal Center for Social Action.

In the event of extreme cold, the ship 'could be open 24 hours a day, for a few days, but in an unsatisfactory manner for the beneficiaries and the teams due to technical and financial constraints,' says Thollas.

Anne Marchand, regional director of the Abbé Pierre Foundation, welcomes this initiative which "allows 100 people not to sleep outside but this only remains a solution for the night, for two weeks and in winter." She adds: "We should move from a logic of emergency, of band-aid, to a logic of anticipation."

After these five months, the prefecture plans to keep the boat available as a withdrawal base for seasonal workers.

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