Shelters for homeless drug addicts needed, PN MP says
'We need to think about these people and not kick them out'
Homeless people suffering from drug addiction need to have a shelter where they can seek accommodation, Nationalist MP Ivan Bartolo suggested during parliament on Tuesday.
“We need shelter homes for those who are homeless drug addicts, and they wish to restart their lives for the better. We need to think about these people and not kick them out,” Bartolo said.
The member of parliament was speaking during the second reading of a bill that would provide mandatory jail of between three and four years for anyone convicted of the involuntary killing of anyone while driving under the influence of drugs or alcohol.
During his speech, Bartolo praised the law but also spoke about the importance of people suffering from addictions and how these people need support rather than being punished.
Whilst speaking, Bartolo noted how the current available shelters have very strict rules regarding drug use.
He said that it is not the first time that homeless drug addicts end up back on the street after breaching these regulations, but he understood the need for these rules to protect the other residents or people in a drug programme.
A Times of Malta investigation into homelessness found that many homeless drug addicts have nowhere to go. YMCA’s chief executive officer, Anthony Camilleri, told Times of Malta that their shelters carry out random drug tests on their residents, and if the test is positive, then they are kicked out.
Camilleri suggested that, just as is done abroad, churches should open throughout the night and act as low-threshold shelters where anyone is allowed to go and sleep overnight with minimal rules.
Bartolo appealed to the government to make shelters and programmes more available for people who are suffering from addiction.
To deal with the increasing number of homeless people, the police have chosen to make use of a 19th-century law that punishes vagrancy. Since June, 35 homeless individuals have been subjected to police raids and charged in court for vagrancy. Most were also charged with begging.
Following news of a group of homeless people that were arrested in June, YMCA Malta told Times of Malta that attendance at its drop-in centre had reduced rapidly.
Earlier this year, a study found that most drug users admitted to Mount Carmel Hospital are seeking help for homelessness and unemployment rather than psychotic illness.