President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa mourns the death of the homeless Portuguese national labelling the circumstances in which he died as “inhumane”.
The Portuguese former model was found dead in an underpass at Westminster tube station, on the doorstep of the Houses of Parliament. The man, believed to be in his 40s, is one of four rough sleepers to have died in London in the first six weeks of 2018.
The fatal event servers as walk-up call to reduce homelessness in London. According to government figures, the number of rough sleepers in England has risen for seven consecutive years. Official figures show 4,751 people slept outside overnight in autumn last year and the number of children staying in hostels and other kinds of temporary accommodation has increased to more than 120,000.
This most extreme form of homelessness was at its lowest in 2005 when just over 400 people were sleeping rough in the whole of Britain. However, since then the numbers have risen dramatically with an approximate number of 8,000 rough sleepers in London alone last year.
The government department responsible for homelessness said it will eliminate rough sleeping by 2027. Heather Wheeler MP, the minister for homelessness, said: “Stories like this push me on to find solutions and work to eradicate rough sleeping for good.”