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Homeless Not Heartless: Campaign enabling street homeless refugee people to assert their human rights
About the Campaign Recently granted leave to remain in the UK and then evicted into street destitution, people who are refugees have formed a homeless camp in Central Manchester. This social injustice, engineered through the State and resulting in fundamental human rights violations is not new: in 2003, RAPAR was the first organisation in the UK to profile and analyse legal changes through which the Home Office began to evict refugee people from their homes into street destitution. And in 2015 RAPAR worked with homeless camps that sprang up throughout the city centre, then overwhelmingly made up of British people who had gone through the care system, and/or had profound mental health needs, and/or were veterans. On that occasion the campaign was resisting attempts by the City Council to criminalise homeless people. Currently, once you are through the asylum system, the time allocated to find a home is 56 days. With such a profound shortage of affordable social housing in the city it’s a nigh on impossible task: obtain a National Insurance number, find a job, save money for a deposit, and secure a rental property, all within two months. In partnership with other RAPAR volunteers and Reach for Change, these new RAPAR members from the homeless camp are working to keep themselves as safe as possible and bring attention to the broader issue of housing shortages across the UK and the fact that people who are refugees are being made into scapegoats for the national housing shortage. Stay Updated Keep an eye on the right side of this page for the latest updates on our campaign efforts, news about the situation, and any success stories Thank you for your support and commitment to this crucial cause. Let's come together to make a lasting impact! |
Updates:26 Feb 2025: Click here for Chanelle 4 coverage of this matter
26 Feb 2025: Click here to read RAPAR's press release about this campaign and the questions we'd like to raise
21 Feb 2025: The following text, printed with logos of RAPAR and Reach4Change and signed by representatives of both was handed to the Courts:
This is a letter regarding the homeless camp in Manchester city centre which was created by the community. It is the second camp created within a year, and we are writing to you to explain why these camps started and what impact banning the tents will have. The majority of people living in the camps are refugees who are acutely vulnerable. The camp initiative was set up when failings by the Manchester City Council Homelessness Team were recognised. Newly homeless refugee people have been met by answering machines when calling to declare that they have been made homeless. Given no access to emergency accommodation, they have been left outside on the street - despite lodging an application for homelessness and being classed as vulnerable. The Home Office have been forcing refugee people onto the streets, having given some of them eviction notices of as little as 10 days. They have then sent some of the homeless people to Manchester Council, who in turn pass them along to the charity Mustard Tree. At the Charity, they are told they must bid on permanent housing - while they are forced to sleep outside on the street - having been advised they are not entitled to temporary accommodation. The majority of these homeless refugee people are now living in tents outside and there are plans to ban the tents from the city centre. With no easy access to temporary accommodation, homeless refugee people will be forced to sleep out in the open. They are already vulnerable, many do not speak English, and this will put them in acute danger. Some have come from countries like Sudan and are being left in the cold when they have come to the UK for safety. We are calling on the courts to ensure that Manchester City Council urgently addresses the issue, and provides the support needed to the homeless refugee camp so that people living there are granted access to accommodation. Mustard Tree does not have the statutory responsibility for supporting homeless people with accommodation applications. We ask for this responsibility to be re-assumed by the council’s homelessness service where homeless people have said they were given more support. If the courts would like earlier evidence collected and testimonies from the experiences of members of the previous camp, we can collect them and submit them. A letter was also sent to the local authority’s ombudsman but they refused to investigate on behalf of the 130 homeless people. Instead, they wanted complaints from each homeless person, which was unfeasible. At the heart of this, there are people who have fled from war, brutality and the brink of famine. The Home Office has acknowledged their refugee status. Many are homeless because they have been given refugee status, or due to the dearth of immigration and housing advice available to them. Some people are living at the camp for safety reasons, to avoid living in tents on their own. Others are in Manchester because of local connections - their communities, culture, or wider circle of family and friends. The local authority should not be abrogating its responsibilities towards people living on the city’s streets and the council's homelessness services should be available to every homeless person in Manchester. 18 Feb 2025: RAPAR and Reach4Change members held a meeting at RAPAR's office to discuss the re-emergence of a homeless camp in Central Manchester. the following is decided:
• This group is going to meet next Tuesday at 11 o'clock in RAPAR. Bring your computers, everybody bring your computers • On Friday between, with a sign off from the trustees, the letter will be handed into the courts. A photograph will be taken of the letter being handed in and the court will be asked to sign for the letter. • A press release will be composed that will aim to get to the desks on Monday about what we're doing and that we're asking these questions. • Set up a system in the little office for this homeless camp casework • To also create an email group for the homeless camp casework. • To reach out to The Greater Manchester Law Centre to find out what happened re the court case that failed |