Thousands of EU nationals who have been detained or deported in the last two years could now sue the Home Office for compensation.
Detaining and deporting EU migrants for sleeping rough is illegal, a High Court judge has said.
A Tory interpretation of bloc treaties had argued that becoming homeless was an ‘abuse’ of freedom of movement rights within the European Union.
This contentious reading of the rules has resulted in thousands of EU nationals being held in Britain’s notorious immigration removal centres and violently removed from the country.
Data released last month showed 5,321 Europeans were forcibly deported in the year until September 2017.
But Judge Lang said today that the government was breaking the law and could no longer equate rough sleeping with illegal activities like sham marriages and obtaining fake documents.
She dismissed assertions by the Home Office that people come to the UK to “intentionally and persistently” sleep rough.
The legal challenge was brought by the Public Interest Law Unit (PILU) and North East London Migrant Action (Nelma), who crowdfunded legal costs.
Nelma has been campaigning against the deportation of EU rough sleepers since the policy began two years ago.
The group has previously highlighted collaboration between the Home Office and homelessness charities including St Mungo’s and Thames Reach, which run street outreach services where they gather intelligence to pass on to Home Office Immigration Enforcement teams. This has created an “effective machine for deportation”, according to Nelma.
But Judge Lang said today these operations involving homelessness charities are illegal and must stop.
Nelma said many homeless people targeted by the Home Office had often fallen on “hard times” and were working but unable to afford accommodation. Because of harsh welfare restrictions on European nationals, homelessness charities do not house European rough sleepers. Instead they offer them voluntary return to their country of origin. Those who refuse are flagged up to the Home Office.
The organisation said it had seen the number of EU nationals sleeping rough steadily increase over the past seven years, since the government opted to add “enforcement measures to austerity policies” instead of providing supportive solutions to homelessness. Operations to criminalise homeless migrants most often target central and eastern Europeans, the group said.
Commenting on today’s verdict, Nelma said:
“We hope this decision will put an end to a social policy which used imprisonment and deportation as solutions to eradicate homelessness.
“We also hope that St Mungo’s, Thames Reach and CGL will review their participation in the policing – lawful or unlawful – of the people they are meant to support.”
As a result of today’s verdict, those who have been detained under the scheme may now be able to sue the Home Office for compensation.
Although in some cases money will not make up for the suffering endured. Tragically the court ruling comes too late for Marcin Gwozdzinski, a Polish man who died by suicide in Harmondsworth in September, two days before his 28th birthday. He had been detained for sleeping rough.
Charlotte England is a freelance journalist and writer at Left Foot Forward. Follow her on Twitter
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2 Responses to “BREAKING: Detention and deportation of EU migrants ruled illegal by High Court”
Robin Burgess
What brilliant news. The cruel targetting of EU homeless people is nothing less than a mean spirited brexit fantasy of persecuting people in advance of possible legal changes of the future. Homelessness charities that colluded with this should hang their heads in shame
nhsgp
So much for the claim that we can deport EU migrants who aren’t working, under EU Laws.
Made frequently during the referendum campaign, and now shown to be yet another lie.
On the moral issue, again its wrong. I tried to stop Southwark, a Labour Borough at the time, implementing their policy of stealing rough sleeper’s belongings.