Team set up to tackle practices used to clear streets of the homeless
Group aims to protect rough sleepers’ rights
A homelessness charity is setting up a team to protect rough sleepers’ human rights after it became concerned by the action being taken against them by police and councils.
Housing Justice has teamed up with the British Institute of Human Rights to form the Homeless Human Rights Action Team. Around 20 people have signed up to the team, including workers from soup kitchens and homeless shelters.
It had its first meeting last week and decided its first priority was to tackle practices such as police waking up rough sleepers in the night and street cleaners hosing down their sleeping areas. These practices, under the banner of Operation Poncho, have been piloted in the City of London.
Sally Leigh, London co-ordinator for Housing Justice, said the idea was to ‘ensure the human rights of rough sleepers are maintained in the face of increasing enforcement measures’.
It was not necessary to wake rough sleepers in the early hours to tell them about services, she claimed.
Roisin Cavanagh, the British Institute of Human Right’s poverty and human rights officer, said: ‘We hope the task force will work with the local authority to take a fresh look at Operation Poncho through a human rights lens. We want to see them put the humanity back into their services and make sure that rough sleepers are treated with fairness and respect.’
A spokesperson for the Met police office said: ‘We are happy for anyone to be aware of their human rights so long as it’s accurate.’
The group, which is still looking for members , is also considering launching a fight to protect soup runs in the capital. Charity Thames Reach and Westminster Council suggest the practice does not reduce rough sleeping.
A City of London spokesman said: ‘The most fundamental human right is the right to life - sleeping rough is dangerous and those sleeping on the streets often have a much shorter life expectancy than the rest of the population.’ The authority has pledged to find accommodation for anyone who wishes to access it, she added.
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Readers' comments (4)
Harry Lime | 27/11/2009 8:53 am
You just wish that all the London Boroughs (and particularly Boris) would just come out with it and confess that they want a Richard Curtis vision of London for 2012 and the minute the Olympics are over they won't give a monkeys about the homeless, just the appearance of their streets. I bet if every homeless person found a multi storey car park for the night they wouldn't be damping those down or paying "concerned" visits when people are trying to sleep.
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Jim Paton | 27/11/2009 11:36 pm
'The most fundamental human right is the right to life - sleeping rough is dangerous and those sleeping on the streets often have a much shorter life expectancy than the rest of the population.’
The same is true of thousands of things from smoking to winter climbing in Glencoe. Does that justify hosing down people's sleeping spaces (and sometimes the people, too), being abusive, bullying and sometimes violent towards them?
Unless something is done, this is going to escalate up to 2012.
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Joe Halewood | 28/11/2009 1:04 pm
So soup runs dont REDUCE rough sleeping!
It that their intention? Of course its not. Do refuges reduce DV or do homeless hostels reduce homelessness? No they dont - they are there to support those homeless or have fled violence just as soup runs are there to support rough sleepers.
Human Rights? They apply to all people and not just those housed - or should that be hosed? Do councils routinely hose down any other group of persons endangering themselves? Do the police wake tenants up in the middle of the night to advise them on the security of their homes?
Oh but theyre only the scum of the earth arent they!!!!!!!
Arent police and councils in breach of their equality duties here in doing this disgraceful acts as well as in (potential) breach of HRA? The hosing is a deliberate act against one specific group of people and is highly discriminatory. How has this aspect been allowed to go unchallenged? Or maybe that question answers itself as rough sleepers perhaps dont complain or maybe not even allowed in council buildings to exercise the right to complain?
And a Met Police spokesperson thinks there may not be human rights implications here - nice touch! If the police are so happy to be aware of human rights perhaps they should check the human rights aspects BEFORE embarking upon a policy such as this? But hey theyre scum these rough sleepers after all so why bother!
Police being prejudicial is just another aspect of challenge to this vile policy that will no doubt just be shoved under the carpet and not investigated or challenged.
This entire area is full of potential challenges yet still continues to be 'acceptable' to those agencies (police and councils) with a remit up to protect ALL citizens, but they have overtly and deliberately chosen not to do. Shameful
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mark richardson | 30/11/2009 8:24 am
Rough sleepers; on the streets. Why are they in that position? Is it true that some choose to be 'on the streets due to onerous rules in hostels, ie they perhaps want/need to use drugs... and yet for a hostel to be safe, or to work there must be rules... Are some people trapped in this way of living... unwell? (If so how do we help them?)... Should the goal be to have no rough sleepers or to make the streets 'nicer' to sleep on...?
Being homeless... some people find it impossible to have a 'home' even though they may have a roof over their heads. Maybe due to how they grew up, or to their health today. The ideas of having security, warmth, nice things, a future are just alien to them, they live day-to-day, life is a fight... so perhaps cuddly words like 'home' or even 'human rights!' are not particularly useful... how about... caring, kindness, support, (the offer of) education, opportunities, safety and a realisation that anything can happen to anybody - it could be you there.
I was homeless for a while, I have mental health problems (doing better now) and occasional am unable to feel at 'home'... and am tentatively starting to work.
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