Government set to pay huge compensation bill for illegal deportation of rough sleepers
1 min read
The Government could be forced to shell out hundreds of thousands of pounds in compensation for illegally deporting rough sleepers from the EU, in a fresh blow for Theresa May.
The Prime Minister introduced the concept of rough sleeping as an abuse of EU treaty rights while she was Home Secretary two years ago - but the policy was stopped in December after it was ruled unlawful.
New figures obtained by the BBC show almost 700 homeless EU nationals were detained and removed from the country in the year to May 2017 - each one a potential compensation claim.
One claimant, Tomas Lusas from Lithuania, was awarded £10,000, while law firms told the broadcaster at least 45 other clients were currently pursuing claims, potentially worth thousands of pounds each.
The policy, implemented in 2017, came under fire after it emerged immigration enforcement teams were also targeting rough sleepers who were in work or had a permanent right of residence in the UK.
But in December a High Court judge said the practice was discriminatory and broke freedom of movement rules.
A Home Office spokesperson told the BBC the department was no longer targeting rough sleepers.
They added that "claims for compensation will be considered on a case-by-case basis" and insisted the government was "determined to break the homelessness cycle".
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