East Europeans face deportation in London rough sleeping crackdown

Targeted: a homeless person sleeping rough at night on Victoria Street
12 April 2012

Eastern Europeans who sleep rough on the streets of central London could be deported in a clampdown on anti-social behaviour today.

Migrants from rough sleeping "hot spots" around Westminster and Victoria are being targeted after council chiefs said they had received "repeated complaints" from residents.

If the sleepers cannot prove they are seeking work they will be referred to the UK Border Agency for deportation.

The move comes after recent official figures show that rough sleepers from Eastern Europe have almost doubled in the past year and make up a third of homeless people in Westminster.

Today's 12-hour operation will also focus on street drinkers and people wanted on warrant for not answering bail.

But charities today warned that EU nationals should not be forced to leave Britain and called for better support and information for migrants.

Duncan Shrubsole, of the homeless charity Crisis, said: "If people from EU states are never able to find work in the UK they should be supported to return to their home country.

"There is undoubtedly a need for better services to inform people of their rights and options to help them off the streets and into sustainable work."

But council chiefs defended the crackdown — part of an eight-month pilot scheme that started on April 1 — saying homeless migrants were in breach of EU treaty requirements on job-seeking for incomers from Europe.

If a rough sleeper is found to breach their treaty rights they will be interviewed by a UKBA officer and could face deportation within a month.

Westminster councillor Daniel Astaire said: "With no recourse to public funds, they become vulnerable and get caught up in a downward spiral of deteriorating health problems. Returning home is really the best possible option."

Chief Inspector Craig Haslam, who is coordinating the Piazza clean-up, said: "I hope this will show the local community that we do not tolerate anti-social behaviour of any kind and will do our utmost to ensure their local area remains a safe place to live and work."

Homeless charity Thames Reach has helped up to 350 Eastern Europeans to return home in the past year. Spokesman Mike Nicholas said: "For some, coming here has been a disaster.

"I've seen terrible sights and if we don't help people to go home we will see lots of deaths on the streets."

A UK Border Agency spokesman said: "The UK Border Agency is focusing on problem areas in local communities, including areas where there are challenges with rough sleeping and anti-social behaviour.

"European nationals [from the European Economic Area] who have been in the country for longer than three months have to be working, studying or self-sufficient in order to have a right to stay. If they are not, or don't have a genuine prospect of doing so, the UK Border Agency expects them to return home."

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in