Call for state programme for homeless children in Russia
15.03.2019
The Presidential Council for Civil Society and Human Rights (PCHR) has held a special meeting to discuss help for the homeless.
The PCHR has called for the creation of a state programme of comprehensive care for homeless people, Kommersant reports. Prior to the introduction of any programme, a census of homeless people must be drawn up and reasons why they are on the streets should be established, PCHR member Evegeny Bobrov said. Human rights activists estimate that there are between 800,000 and 3.5 million homeless people in Russia today.
The human rights Council also called for homeless people to be registered. This would make them eligible to receive medical help and to take jobs. The PCHR suggested that homeless people should be allowed to register with employers and with migration services in their place of residence.
The special meeting concluded that the Presidential Council would prepare a package of recommendations to be passed to the president and the appropriate authorities, PCHR chairman Mikhail Fedotov said. He added that the issue of helping the homeless might be introduced into the national human rights action plan being prepared by the Council.
Earlier, the Public Chamber of the Russian Federation had discussed providing medical and psychological help for homeless people.
