Fined for begging? Across Europe, there is a shift towards repressive administrative regimes at local level which often violate fundamental rights of people in vulnerable situations.

Local authorities use sanctions to criminalise the everyday activities of homeless people in their struggle for survival (anti-begging legislation, rough sleeping prohibition, prohibition of removing things from rubbish bins, ticketing for loitering, forcing people to ‘move on’, etc.…).  Once sanctioned, homeless people find it very difficult, if not impossible to access justice. Often they are not aware of their rights or the possible appeals procedures; in some cases, the procedures themselves are opaque or non-existent. Housing Rights Watch and FEANTSA are challenging the thinking of these repressive regimes and calling on Members of the European Parliament, NGOs, activists and policy makers to stand up for fundamental rights and call for social policies that promote social inclusion. In order to reverse this trend to criminalise and penalise homeless people and others in vulnerable situations, we need action at European level. MEPs and EU officials can help by supporting groups to challenge local laws and by reminding policy makers that international and European human rights instruments should be respected at all levels.

Languages: English and French To register: contact Samara Jones, Policy Officer, FEANTSA: Samara.jones@feantsa.org ; +32 (0)2 538 66 69, 194 Chaussée de Louvain, 1210 Brussels, Belgium

Deadline for registrations: 5 September 2013