Latyr, a former employee of the European Commission, led a stable middle-class life in Belgium. But that stability gave way to uncertainty almost overnight, when he found himself sleeping in a tent on the streets of Spain. There he remained trapped for almost four years while authorities investigated a fraud case. He was eventually acquitted of any crime.
Now, at the World Urban Forum in Baku, Azerbaijan, he publicly shares his story through the documentary. What no one wants to see.
At WUF13, UN-Habitat has brought together partners such as the Gere Foundation and HOGAR SÍ to place homelessness at the center of the global urban agenda, highlighting not only the scale of the crisis, but also the possibility of ending it.
HOGAR SÍ, an independent non-profit organization founded in 1998, works to end homelessness in Spain. For over 25 years, it has supported over 10,000 people in 11 regions by focusing on housing solutions and advocating for human rights (including Latyr).
“I had a good life,” Latyr told UN News on the sidelines of the forum. “And I lost it from one day to the next.”
A journey that never ended
When Latyr arrived in Spain, he expected to stay only three days.
At the time he was about 40 years old and living in Belgium. She had just gotten divorced and lost her job at the European Commission. Still, he had a family, children and what he describes as a “normal life.” Then came a decision that changed everything.
Some people approached him with what appeared to be a legitimate banking transaction involving a check. Thioye did not even touch the document; He simply asked that it be sent directly to his bank in Spain.
But when the check arrived, bank officials discovered it was fake.
Authorities confiscated his passport, bank cards and documents as they investigated what they suspected could be part of a larger criminal network.
“They told me: you have to stay in Spain. You can’t leave the country until the investigation is over,” he said.
Every month he had to appear before a judge and sign documents proving he was still there.
I could have run away. There were no real border controls preventing him from leaving Spain for another European country. But he decided not to.
“I didn’t want to take that risk,” he said quietly.
Life under the trees
Instead, he stayed and slowly became homeless.
For almost four years, Latyr lived on the streets. Alone in a foreign country and unable to work legally without identification documents, he survived day to day.
He found a small community of homeless people living in tents under trees near a wooded area. Together they created a fragile version of ordinary life.
“We were well organized in our place,” he recalled. “We buy vegetables, meat, things to cook. We try to make a living.”
To survive, he took informal jobs in street markets, helping vendors move boxes of fruits and vegetables. Despite having degrees in economics and finance, he earned enough money to buy food and basic supplies.
“It was survival,” he said.
Illness – and a turning point
Then came the illness.
Doctors first diagnosed him with emphysema. He later learned he had lung cancer. Although Spain offers medical care to those who need it, the treatment was not easy.
“The doctor told me: if I give you chemotherapy while you live on the streets, you are going to die,” Latyr recalled.
They told him the treatment was too aggressive. He needed a safe place to rest, eat properly, and take medication regularly.
That’s when HOGAR SÍ intervened. The organization placed him in a shelter known as “Espacio Salut” – literally “health space” – where he received a bed, food and support while he received chemotherapy.
“That saved my life,” he said. “But it also gave me the opportunity to get off the streets.”
Little by little he began to rebuild. Drawing on his background in economics and finance, he began doing freelance tasks on his laptop. Former contacts and clients in London, France and the United States began sending him work remotely.
Years later, he still struggles to understand how quickly a normal life can collapse.
“Sometimes when you’re depressed and don’t have a lot of mental strength, you can make mistakes,” he reflected. “And those mistakes can take you a long way from reality.”
‘Four years of my life disappeared’
What hurts him even more is that, after years of investigation, the authorities finally returned his passport and belongings without any explanation. No charges were ever brought against him.
“They said, OK, get your passport back, get your laptop back,” he recalled. “And that was it.”
By then, four years of his life had already passed.
Today, Latyr speaks publicly about homelessness through the documentary. What no one wants to see. At the World Urban Forum, his message was directed not only to governments, but also to companies and real estate developers.
A crisis that can be solved
He believes homelessness has a solution.
According to him, in Spain there are about 37,000 people who live on the streets, a figure that he considers manageable for a country of almost 50 million inhabitants.
“If they want to stop it right now, they have the means,” he said.
He points to partnerships between nonprofits and private real estate companies that are already exploring affordable housing initiatives for vulnerable people.
“There is something really possible to do,” he said. “We just have to think about the right business model and how to connect all these organizations.”
For Latyr, homelessness is not simply about not having a roof over your head. It is about losing dignity, identity and connection to society, often through a chain of events that can begin much faster than people imagine.
UN News is in Baku covering the Summit throughout the week. Stay here.