Hundreds of homeless people registered in downtown Budapest in a single night

Fully 461 homeless people were recorded in public areas in the central parts of Budapest on Friday evening, according to a homeless charity.

Volunteers carrying out the survey between 8 p.m. and midnight on Oct 11 found that 133 homeless people were lying down, while 328 were “sitting, walking or wandering,” Péter Győri, the head of the Menhely Foundation‘s board of trustees, said at a press conference on Monday. Volunteers also discovered 30 empty sleeping spots, he added.

Fully 78 percent of homeless people were male, mostly aged between 30 and 49.

The survey found that most of the homeless used indoor shelters. Fifty-eight percent of those spending the night out in the streets were on their own, while “a surprisingly high” proportion, 22 percent, formed groups, and 20 percent were couples, he said.

The count did not include homeless registered in the care system, those sleeping in hostels or shelters.

Péter Breitner, deputy director of the Budapest Methodological Centre of Social Policy and Its Institutions (BMSZKI), the city’s largest homeless service provider, said their organisation maintained daily contact with some 3,000 homeless people who made use various types of indoor shelter.

He noted that a high ratio of the homeless, 30 percent, had psychiatric issues, adding that BMSZKI operated three types of shelter tailored to their needs. “We opened a house for those with addiction problems where alcohol is available,” Breitner said.

Ákos Surányi, the city council’s homeless strategy coordinator, said the survey was carried out with help of 120 volunteers who covered 48 zones on foot, focusing on subways, railway stations, public transport vehicles and the Népliget international bus station.

Nóra Teller, the head of research of Városkutatás, said the project was carried out under a multiphase EU programme covering 15 cities in ten European countries.

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