Negotiations are ongoing for the EU's proposed Returns Regulation. The time to take action is now, like and share, write to your national representatives and ask them to oppose the proposal ❎
Find your national representative through the link in our bio.
On the 26th of March, the European Parliament voted to enter negotiations on the Deportation Regulation; the compromised version of the proposal weakens fundamental rights safeguards and reinforces a punitive, criminalising approach to migration.
Trilogues have been initiated between the EP, the EC and the Council of the EU; the following weeks are crucial as the institutions work to finalise the Regulation.
FEANTSA calls for MS and the EU institutions to reject the current approach in which deportations are presented as the only possible option for undocumented migrants and re-evaluate available options for people whose return is not possible.
🎫 🎉 The FEANTSA Forum 2026 is already half sold out!
Although registrations officially close on 27 April, we recommend securing your place soon. Capacity is limited, and registrations will close once all spots are filled.
With over 50 sessions, the Forum will bring together discussions on Housing First, eviction prevention, youth homelessness, undocumented migrants, women’s homelessness, race and anti-LGBTIQ+ discrimination, energy poverty, health and neurodiversity, homelessness data collection, the EU Affordable Housing Plan, and more.
📍 Warsaw, 18–19 May
The main conference on 19 May will take place at the Palace of Culture and Science, with working spaces on 18 May at the Novotel Warszawa Centrum.
Link to register in our bio 📝
See you in Warsaw 💫
International delegates travelled from Australia, Belgium, Canada, Finland, and the Netherlands to see how Homewards Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole (BCP), is preventing youth homelessness.
Travelling across Bournemouth, delegates saw homelessness prevention in action and the difference it’s already making for young people.
Swipe ➡️ to see what stood out to them - and why prevention matters.
Together, we can make homelessness rare, brief and unrepeated.
🔵🟢🔴 This International Roma Day, we are sharing a video from our member @kirkensbymisjon .
In December 2025, they mapped racism experienced by migrant Roma people in Norway, based on a survey with 106 participants.
These are some of the experiences they reported:
- 48% have been threatened, shouted at, or followed, while more than half report verbal abuse or degrading comments in everyday life.
- 54% believe they are treated differently because of their ethnicity, and over 40% say this unequal treatment leaves them feeling powerless and afraid.
Much of this takes place in public spaces, with 84% saying it happens on the street or on public transport. For people experiencing homelessness or who are forced to spend long periods of time in public spaces, this exposure to racism and discrimination is constant.
🌍 New Report Published: Recognised Refugees: Pathways to Stability and Inclusion in Europe
Throughout Europe, recognised refugees continue to face severe housing instability and homelessness risks long after being granted protection.
Despite receiving status, many people still struggle to secure safe, affordable accommodation. Our research highlights:
🔸 Persistent barriers to accessing housing systems
🔸 Long stays in emergency or inadequate accommodation
🔸 Structural gaps that push people toward homelessness
🔸 Promising practices that help people transition into stable housing
"In the absence of structured support, the moment of protection can therefore become a point of entry into homelessness."
📄 Link to the full report in our bio
📢 New Magazine Issue: Special U.S. Edition 📢
🔗 Read the magazine through the link in our bio
This edition of the Homeless in Europe magazine takes FEANTSA further afield than our usual remit, to look at the state of homelessness policy in the United States of America (U.S.) under the Trump Administration. Through the contributions to this magazine, we will explore the ongoing shift away from longstanding, evidence-based strategies to address homelessness, and the move towards criminalisation and enforced treatment, and what can be learnt from this for the EU context.
For European readers and policymakers, developments in the U.S. may foreshadow changes that could emerge elsewhere. Parallels to the U.S. landscape, particularly the criminalisation of homelessness and the framing of visible poverty as a public order issue, are already present in several European countries. While the U.S. and European contexts are, of course, different, examining what is happening in the U.S. today can still serve as both a source of insight and a warning for what could occur in Europe.
Articles:
➡️ The US Federal Government Has Abandoned Evidence-Based Policy on Homelessness: Europe Must Not Follow - Ruth Owen, Deputy Director, FEANTSA
➡️ Updates from a Movement Under Siege: Fighting Criminalization of Homelessness in the U.S. - Eric Tars, Senior Policy Director, National Homelessness Law Center
➡️ Addressing Political Interference in United States Homelessness Policy Through Litigation - Ann Oliva, CEO, National Alliance to End Homelessness
➡️ What’s Happening to Homelessness Policy in the US, and What Might Europeans Learn from it? - Dennis Culhane, Professor of Social Policy, University of Pennsylvania
➡️ US inspired, European shaped – Raids, Deportation and the Criminalisation of Migration - Simona Barbu, Policy Profiles Team Leader, FEANTSA & Sergio Peréz, Policy Officer, FEANTSA
🚨 Poverty is not a crime: say NO to the registration and criminalisation of #homelessness!
Tomorrow, 10 March, the European Parliament will vote on the HOUS Committee's own-initiative report as part of its work to strengthen the European Union's action on housing. We call on all MEPs, regardless of their political position, to reject any form of criminalisation of homelessness, which is incompatible with the values and social commitments of the European Union.
Paragraph 28 of the HOUS report calls for “coordinated policies at EU level to address and curb housing occupation, guaranteeing the right to property and the legal certainty of owners”, including calls “for better cooperation, data collection and information-sharing between the Member States in this regard” but also “better use of Europol tools where organised crime is suspected to be involved in squatting, including by exploring the added value and possible establishment of an online platform”.
👨👩👦👦 1.2 million homeless people in Europe, including 400,000 children
🏡 20% of housing in Europe is vacant (European Commission)
When people cannot access decent accommodation, they may have no choice but to seek shelter in empty buildings. All countries already have legal procedures in place to protect private property, and criminalising poverty is never the right solution.
Squatting should not be addressed through EU legislation.
Instead, we call for:
✅ Social housing that meets the needs of the most vulnerable
✅Measures to prevent evictions
✅Social support where necessary
📢 New publication from FEANTSA for International Women’s Day
Women experiencing homelessness face distinct challenges that require gender-specific responses.
Women First: European Good Practices Addressing Women’s Homelessness brings together inspiring initiatives from across Europe that are putting women at the centre of solutions.
The collection highlights practical approaches including feminist peer support and trauma-informed services, specialised support around pregnancy and motherhood, women’s health initiatives, and Housing First for women.
💡 Discover practical solutions, learn from organisations across Europe, and explore how services can better respond to women’s experiences of homelessness.
🔗 Download the report through the link in our bio
📺 Go to our youtube to watch the recording of the webinar launch!
🚨 On Monday, the European Parliament will vote on the Deportation Regulation.
The proposal puts undocumented migrants at risk of being detained for lacking a home. Treating homelessness as a sign that someone might “abscond” is deeply unfair, especially when undocumented migrants already face major barriers to housing, social rights and basic services.
The European Parliament must ensure the removal of provisions that:
❌ treat #homelessness as grounds for detention
❌ require undocumented migrants to provide “precise contact details, including current place of residence”.
Take action: ✒️ Sign the WeMove petition @wekeep_ussafe
📩 Contact your MEPs
❗ Anti-begging laws: France called out by the Council of Europe
In a decision published today, the European Committee of Social Rights (ESCR) of the Council of Europe condemned France in a case on the rights of homeless people and people living in poverty filed by FEANTSA, @fidh - International Federation for Human Rights, la @fondationpourlelogement des Défavorisés and LDH (Ligue des droits de l'Homme) on 3 April 2023.
While the complaint concerns France, the practices examined by the ESCR are far from isolated. Across Europe, municipalities increasingly resort to punitive measures targeting people experiencing #homelessness and poverty.
➡️ The Committee’s conclusions are unambiguous: "Municipal by-laws aggravate the situation of disadvantaged people who can only survive in public spaces, reinforcing their social exclusion and marginalisation."
🗞️ Link to the press release in our bio
🔔 Report launch!
On Monday, 2 March, we are launching our report ‘11 Good Practices on the Integration of Youth Work in Services for Youth Homelessness’.
The experiences of, reasons for and routes out of #homelessness among young people are often different from those of adults. It is therefore necessary to adopt youth-oriented interventions that value the transition into adulthood as much as the move into independent housing.
This requires a shift in mindset: rather than being a homelessness service that works with young people, the starting point is being a youth service where young people happen to be experiencing homelessness.
Youth work can be a valuable tool, providing a framework to ensure services are adapted to the specific needs of young people and recognise those needs in an empowering way.
Join us for this webinar from 11:30 to 13:00 CET to learn more about the role of youth work in preventing and ending youth homelessness. We will hear from two organisations featured in the collection about how they implement youth work in their services, followed by a Q&A with the audience.
Link to register in our bio 📝
Our new report - jointly produced with @feantsa_org - reveals how migration control, discrimination, and exclusionary housing systems push people into homelessness, unsafe living conditions, and exploitation.
Check it out in our Linktree.
