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The homeless of Europe, Greece and Athens. A story without a name, one of those stories that do not leave the sweetness of joy to those who listen to them. After all, who knows the protagonists? There are more than four million in Europe, it is unknown how many there are in Greece. They were estimated at 40,000 and more than 15,000 in Athens. Most were thinking primarily of winter, when the first colds began to arrive in Europe. First in the north and then in the south. These days, they think of them for an even more serious reason. The pandemic.
“More than 4 million homeless people currently live in the EU, who are at particular risk due to COVID-19, they warn members of the Petitions Committee of the European Parliament and call on EU member states to take action to eradicate them. from homelessness until 2030 ”, reads the relevant announcement from Brussels this Thursday.
“In a draft resolution approved by 33 votes in favor,” said the Committee on Petitions (PETI), “the Committee on Petitions (PETI) is deeply concerned about the plight of more than 4 million unemployed and makes them increasingly dependent on social protection “.
The pandemic is an invisible enemy. The homeless are vulnerable. Exposed to cold, heat, with a mental world shaken many times with little courage, with fragile health, with obvious or hidden complications, but always easy victims of the coronavirus. What was happening in Greece was happening in Greece. As soon as they hit the road, few recognized them, few remembered them, few saw them anymore. They remained invisible, appeared at a meal and again disappeared without seeking help from anyone. Invisible in life, invisible in the last trip. 
10 years ago, in Europe, but also in Greece, street corners became shelters for people. In fact, in Athens, as the people who were handling this huge social problem say, we saw an increase in the number of homeless people.
But the differentiation was not only quantitative but also qualitative, since now in the streets we had the “neo-homeless”, people, that is, productive, with a high level of education, with a house, a job, who had a sufficient previous life but the crisis hit them. and they lost everything.
Almost one in two homeless people had children, while 24.8% worked in technical professions and in the construction sector.
According to the data, at the time that Greece was immersed in the memorandum, 64.8% of the people found on the streets were homeless for less than two years, and more than half were moving through the areas of the historic center . 
And there was a great paradox in the pages of the nameless fairy tale. A significant percentage of the homeless, according to the estimates of the people of the municipality of Atenas, had their own house. But the conditions brought them to stay on the road at some point.
Only 10.8% of all homeless people in Athens had previously been through a psychiatric or prison. 
It was less 20 years ago, at the dawn of the new millennium. Not even three million. But they were very hard-working people. In Greece, according to a census at the time, 51.9% of homeless people were unskilled workers, manual workers or small professionals, 13.1% worked in the service sector and outdoor sales, 7 8% were machine operators and 7.2% artisans. 
And they were in most of the Greeks. Foreigners were around 8%. They were Greeks who before ending up on the road did not live alone in Attica. They lived in Eastern Macedonia and Thrace, Thessaly and Western Greece, averaging around 7.6% for each region. But they came to the capital. To survive, to break with its roots. 
MEPs dealing with the issue:
Homelessness and exclusion from housing is a social problem that must be resolved permanently, MEPs said, adding that decent housing and participation in society are vital for people to make the most of their potential and contribute. to society.
Eliminate homelessness at EU level
The draft resolution recalls that housing is a fundamental human right for everyone and calls on the European Union and the Member States to aim to eliminate homelessness at the EU level. by 2030. Homelessness is recognized as one of the most serious forms of poverty and deprivation, which must be eradicated in a sustainable way that takes into account personal and structural risk factors, MEPs explain.
Members of the EP commission call on the European Commission to continue mobilizing resources and to propose a European Framework of National Strategies for the Elimination of the Homeless. The committee is also calling for a common framework of consistent definitions and indicators for the homeless, which will help better understand and assess the extent of the situation, as well as stronger data collection mechanisms. 
Additional recommendations for Member States include:
• Taking primary responsibility for addressing the situation of homeless people and preventing and intervening in a timely manner: exchange of best practices between Member States,
• Provide equal access to public services, such as health, educational and social services.
• support the integration of the labor market through specialized measures, training and specific programs,
• implementation of long-term national strategies for the elimination of homelessness, based on social and housing policies,
• decriminalization of the homeless, 
• provide financial assistance to NGOs and support local authorities to ensure safe havens for the homeless and to evict evacuees,
• provide continuous and uninterrupted access to emergency shelters, as temporary solutions,
• promote innovation and social entrepreneurship activities at the individual level to improve active inclusion. 
The Committee on Petitions notes that it has received a great deal of information about the plight of more than 4 million homeless Europeans and the alleged 70% increase in the number of homeless people in the EU. the last 10 years. These increases are due to a combination of factors related to rising housing costs, the economic crisis, declining social protection, and inappropriate policies.
Meanwhile, the future does not bode well, as reports on the impact of the COVID-19 crisis suggest that the economic recession and loss of employment and income could further increase housing costs and homeless rates. home in Europe.
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