Two-thirds of Hungary’s homeless live in countryside

Budapest (MTI) – Two-thirds of Hungary’s homeless people reside in the countryside and their conditions are continuously deteriorating, the head of the Shelter Foundation said on Thursday citing a recent survey carried out among Hungary’s rough sleepers.

Péter Győri said that out of the 10,206 homeless people the foundation surveyed in February, 3,968 lived in Budapest and 6,238 in the countryside. A total of 3,422 of them resided in public spaces and 6,784 in homeless shelters.

He said the living conditions of homeless people in the countryside were “just as bad” as the conditions in Budapest’s underpasses. Care for homeless people in rural areas is severely lacking compared to the care they receive in Budapest, which is why most of them choose not to move in to shelters.

Győri said the survey could not be used to determine the total number of homeless people in Hungary.