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Rough sleepers have tents destroyed by enforcement officers in London [1]
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Date: 2023-11
People experiencing homelessness have had their tents destroyed by enforcement officers in central London after being forced by police to move or face arrest.
Grassroots outreach group Streets Kitchen said the Metropolitan Police had issued a so-called 'section 35' dispersal order in Camden, ordering people to move from outside University College Hospital (UCH). One video posted on social media by the group shows a person being arrested, while another shows officers working for Camden Council throwing tents into the back of a bin lorry. People's possessions were also seized.
The hospital claims the operation took place due to public health concerns.
“It’s an absolute disgrace,” Streets Kitchen founder Jon Glackin told openDemocracy. “These people are reduced to sleeping on the streets and now Camden Council has taken all of their stuff. They have nothing.”
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Glackin said around ten tents were destroyed and there were no homeless outreach officers from the Labour-run council there to support the people being evicted.
“These guys have been there for months and the area is always tidy and clean,” he added.
Streets Kitchen, which supports hundreds of people experiencing homelessness each week, has already launched a winter fundraiser due to rising demand and is now vowing to replace all the tents.
It comes a week after home secretary Suella Braverman said sleeping rough was a “lifestyle choice” and was reported to be planning a crackdown on tents in urban areas. She was also said to be proposing fines for charities that provide people on the streets with tents by making it a civil offence.
Section 35 of the Anti-Social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Act gives police the power to exclude a person from an area for a period of up to 48 hours.
A Met Police spokesperson said: “Officers worked with University College London Hospital NHS Trust and other partners in response to concerns about approximately ten tents near the entrance to the hospital in Huntley Street.
“One person was arrested for breach of a S35 dispersal order having refused to comply with the police direction to relocate from the area. He has been taken into police custody.
“Appropriate support is being provided by partner organisations to those affected.”
A UCLH spokesperson said: “Following public health concerns, the police have helped to relocate some people sleeping outside the Grafton Way Building, a hospital treating immunocompromised patients.”
Camden Council initially said it had had “no role in enforcing this eviction” but following further investigation has now committed to an “urgent investigation”.
Acting council leader Pat Callaghan said: “We are deeply concerned to see these videos.
“Nothing is more important to us than the welfare, safety, and rights of every person who is experiencing homelessness. Our outreach team, Routes off the Streets, have been working hard to offer support to every person sleeping rough in Camden, including access to accommodation and a range of other services.
“I'm also concerned that our contracted waste operator has been engaged in this operation and I will be personally looking into why this has happened.”
Updated 10 November 2023: This story was amended to include an updated statement from Camden Council.
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[1] Url:
https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/rough-sleepers-tents-london-suella-braverman-met-police-camden/
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