Les Morts de la Rue: Brussels’ network to eulogise people experiencing homelessness

The idea was born during the 2005 International Day for the Eradication of Poverty demonstrations in Brussels. A group of people experiencing homelessness arrived with a fake coffin and a list of the names of those who had died on the street. The participants fell silent and began to reflect. According to Servais, who works for the non-profit Diogènes, “it was a moment of realization, which led to the creation of the collective, because previously those experiencing homelessness didn’t die, they simply disappeared.”

Today, however, the volunteers of Les Morts de la Rue (The Dead of the Street)operate a network that alerts them every time that a person who is living or has lived on the street disappears. At this point, the organisation kicks into gear.

If person has no clear identity, the collective’s first step is to reconstruct it. Then comes the delicate step of notifying acquaintances. “Some people are no longer in contact with family, for example. Then there are the relationships established on the street and often also with operators and professionals involved in social services,” explains Servais. All of them are invited to the burial ceremony, which, if not organised by the family of the deceased, is organised by the collective itself. “It can be either secular or religious. If we know the faith of the deceased, we contact the representatives of that religion here in Brussels.”

Twenty years ago, the different municipalities that make up the city of Brussels were reluctant to share information about the burials of people who died while living on the street, in part because they did not yet know about the collective and in part because the lack of a ceremony often made arrangements quicker, albeit less humane. “Today, it’s better, even if there is always a bit of haggling,” says Servais.

Credit is also due to the outreach activities that Les Morts de la Rue carries out. In particular, each May, the collective organises an event in the main hall of Brussels City Hall, an imposing building in the central Grand-Place.

“We read out all the names of the people who disappeared during the year and we also remember them through the work of artists who create poems or small objects in their memory,” explains Servais. The collective has also established a physical memorial spot for their activities: a tree just a few steps from Grand-Place, where the objects are hung from the branches once the event has concluded.