By Adela Suliman
LONDON, March 19 (Thomson Reuters Foundation) – Outside a multi-million pound property in central London a small black sign reading “The homeless are revolting, join them” is the only indication this building is involved in a dispute over how the homeless are treated in the British capital.
When snow blasted London in early March, a group of about 160 homeless people moved into the disused 17.5 million pound ($24 million) eight-storey building in Great Portland Street, making it the biggest single shelter in the capital.
The occupation – due to end on Monday with a court ordering their eviction – has sparked a citywide debate involving London Mayor Sadiq Khan about the treatment of growing numbers of homeless people.
Sleeping on the streets – or rough sleeping – has risen in England for seven consecutive years, according to government figures, with more than 1,000 homeless in London and more than 4,100 nationally, a 134 percent jump since 2010..
Jane Clendon, who was homeless and now volunteers with Streets Kitchen, a group that works with the homeless and is involved with the squat, said the traditional systems for dealing with people living on the streets were not adequate while buildings sat empty.
“The system that is in place isn’t working and it’s just heartbreaking,” she told the Thomson Reuters Foundation. “We had to do this to save lives; we had nowhere to take people.”
The squatting campaign began after “Storm Emma”, a snow blast from Siberia dubbed “the Beast from the East”, hit Britain in March, with homeless people seeking shelter saying local authorities took too long to find solutions.
