Braving a Siberian blast sweeping across Europe, around two dozen officials from the Paris region spent a night outdoors to call attention to the plight of the growing number of homeless, reports ABC News.
On waking up early Thursday near the Austerlitz train station, the officials from an array of political parties were greeted by a city blanketed with snow.
Mama Sy, deputy mayor of Étampes, south of Paris, said the reason she and others braved the conditions was to declare: "Stop! This situation can't continue."
At least 13 homeless people have died in the Paris region since the start of the year. The count is imperfect because some organizations include the homeless who die in a hospital or emergency housing, and all say the real number will never be known and could be higher.
Sy reckons the number could be 20.
President Emmanuel Macron's promise to get the homeless off the streets of France by the end of 2017 clearly hasn't materialized. It's a bigger, more durable and more complex problem than he realized.
Paris is no stranger to homeless people. Decades ago, homeless men stretched out on a bench were part of the Paris scenery.
Today, the numbers have swelled and include tens of thousands of migrants, some taken to shelters in periodic sweeps, Roma Gypsies or the long-term homeless. Some, less visible, sleep in cars.
A February census of the homeless in the French capital carried out by Paris City Hall put the number at just under 3,000.
Read more of this Associated Press report published by ABC News.