ROME – Mayor of Rome Virginia Raggi has stressed an “Obligation to shelter the homeless,” given the nine deaths caused by the Eternal City’s cold winter nights over the last few weeks, Il Messaggero reports. The mayor is ready to put in place a system that would oblige the homeless to accept municipal assistance, especially when overnight temperatures drop to the point of being life-threatening.

 News of the homeless being struck by the cold is continually arriving in Campidoglio. “Many refuse our help,” said a social worker who offers assistance to the homeless on a daily basis. In a park near the Pyramid of Cestius, reports from social workers confirm that hundreds of empty beds in shelters remain empty. Meanwhile homeless people are losing their lives by sleeping elsewhere in makeshift beds.

 A homeless person found dead on Jan. 2 in a public garden in Tor Marancia had refused assistance. The same happened to another person found dead Monday in a park in the Cornelia area in North Rome. “The truth is that many prefer to stay in the places where they spend their days, it is difficult for them to break away from certain places, certain habits,” explained operators of the City Social Hall.

 After the discovery of another death Tuesday in the Ostiense area, the mayor has decided to intervene. The objective that Raggi has in mind would provide the use of “mandatory medical treatment” that would “force” the homeless to accept shelter during the night. The council has turned to Capitoline lawyers in order to understand how the arrangement could be put into practice.

 One possible idea is the creation of a list of areas, including historic parks and villas as well as the banks of the Tiber, where citizens would be forbidden to sleep when temperatures drop below a certain threshold. An issue with this strategy is that the homeless could be forced to move, but not to accept places in the structures in Campidoglio.

 There is another limitation of this strategy. Over eight thousand people are homeless in Rome, according to estimates by the Community of Sant’Egidio, while the number of beds available, even if increasing in recent years, are only 1,611. The lack of beds to accommodate everyone is therefore another problem which the mayor must take into consideration.