Homeless "Charity" deports Polish Rough sleepers to freeze to their deaths

I was a bit skeptical of this article given the comments so I looked into it a bit further:-

"Can EU citizens be deported?"

Yes, under the following circumstances:-

-The host country can deport them to their country of origin after 90 days if they do not have a job, sickness insurance or the means to support themselves (and if they have no family member in the host country capable of supporting them).
-They can be deported if they present a threat to public order, public security or public health.

They must, however, have an opportunity to appeal, and must be given a month to leave, except 'in emergencies'.

(source)  http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/7079709.stm


I also found this on a local government website:-

"In London, the Thamesreach Reconnections Service helps individuals with severe drink or drugs problems to return home by driving them in a minivan to, say, Poland or Estonia and then registering them with relevant support services at the other end. IOM cannot offer this sort of support service and airlines must be certain that any passenger will not be a danger to themselves or their fellow passengers. There can also be particular difficulties with applicants with mental health problems."

"The London Reconnection Project, run by Thames Reach is a new project that has been in operation for seven months. The scheme helps destitute migrants from Central and Eastern Europe who are sleeping on the streets of London to return to their home countries. It does not only provide a ticket home, but will actually link people up with support services that can help them get back on their feet."

"The project aims to ensure that people get the services they require to help them into accommodation or with health problems such as alcohol dependency when they return home. During the last seven months over 100 people have been supported to return home, many have been reunited with their families, supported to access alcohol and drug treatment, linked into mental health support and assisted to find accommodation."

"The project is funded by the Department for Communities and Local Government until March 2010. "

"Who we help
The London Reconnection Project helps destitute Central and Eastern European adult men and women who are sleeping rough in London. They must have support needs and have expressed a wish to return to their home countries of Poland, Slovakia, Czech Republic, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, Romania, Bulgaria, Slovenia or Hungary."

(source)  http://www.eera.gov.uk/GetAsset.aspx?id=fAAzADUAMAAzAHwAfABGAGEAbABzAGUAfAB8ADAAfAA1


Of course, if they are "reunited with their families, supported to access alcohol and drug treatment, linked into mental health support and assisted to find accommodation" then this is great, but whether this is entirely true is seriously questionable. World Socialist Website comments:-

"According to Stanislaw Slowik from the Caritas of Kielce: “Half of this total were staying at facilities for the homeless, while the other half reside in garden sheds, heating ducts or staircases”. A 2008 report in the Krokow Post, however, speaks of 300,000 homeless facing enormous difficulties. This total includes many mentally ill persons, elderly persons unable to fend for themselves and persons dependent on alcohol and drugs."

(source)  http://www.wsws.org/articles/2009/apr2009/pola-a17.shtml

My analysis of this is that Thames Reach are playing the soft cops. The UK Border Agency's aim is to get rid of as many migrants as possible, but dragging homeless people off the streets and deporting them would look awful so they get a homeless charity to 'persuade' them to leave on a purely 'voluntary basis'. Of course if they don't leave there is always the risk that the nasty cops will find them. Okay, so why is this happening now I hear you say? Well have a look at this:-

 http://www.homeless.org.uk/rough-sleeping-in-london
 http://www.thamesreach.org.uk/publications/noticeboard-newsletter/?asset=15751

"The Mayor of London is committed to delivering the target of ending rough sleeping in London by 2012". To sum this up the "Communities and Local Government" department (CLG) has rallied together a consortium of state enforcement agencies and collaborating NGOs and charities (under the umbrella of the "London Delivery Board") to act as soft cops in clearing the streets of homeless people before the 2012 Olympics.

Nice.

Of course, there are precedents:-


"Olympic cities punish poor"
 http://www.straight.com/olympic-cities-punish-poor

"Whistler's homeless relocated ahead of Olympics"
 http://www.cbc.ca/canada/british-columbia/story/2010/01/08/bc-whistler-homeless-olympics-relocate.html

What happens is this - homeless A10 nationals are approached by rough sleeper teams who tell them they are not eligible for help through nightshelters/hostels etc, as most do not fulfill the criteria to claim benefits and so acc.cannot be funded.
They are then told they have a certain number of days within which to make a decsion to leave the city. If they do not agree to either a ticket home or move on to another town (where the same thing will happen to them) local daycentres (funded by councils/govt money) are informed of who they are and told not to let them use services - i.e showers/postal address/cheap food etc.
They get a coach ticket not a plane ticket.
In the city where I have worked people's names are also passed to the police.
This is all about one rule for the wealthy and one for the poor, and is mirrored for British people in the local connection policy - the absolutely disgusting way that councils operate.
All made worse be the fact there is no money to challenge these unlawful policies due to cuts in funding for the groups who do that sort of stuff.