Street Sleepers Get Justice

Nine street sleepers finally got justice today, three years later

About three years ago, 22 police officers cleared Tung Chau Street Park in Sham Shui Po where some 80 to 100 street sleepers lived.

These homeless people were given three minutes to pack up their items and move on, the rest of their personal belongings were collected as garbage, which filled 12 rubbish containers, each with a volume of 600 litres.

I remember this story and the public outrage at how these homeless people were treated without any dignity.

The homeless lived in this park in Sham Shui Po

Yesterday nine of those street sleepers won a token HK$100 each in Small Claims Tribunal when it ruled in favour of them, as their personal items were disposed of without their consent.

Arthur Lam Hei-wei, the presiding adjudicator, awarded nominal damages of HK$100 to each of the nine claimants, as none of them could provide sufficient evidence of the value of their possessions.

Not all nine can claim this payment, as one died this month after becoming infected with Covid-19. 

Initially there were 14 claimants, seeking compensation ranging from HK$2,000 to HK$13,290 over the loss of their items, such as garments, mattresses, cash and travel documents.

However, two of the claimants have since died, and four others lost contact with the Society for Community Organisation (SoCO), a concern group supporting the street sleepers in the proceedings.

Lam found the department had failed to discharge its duty of care, as janitors made no independent identifications for the seized items items and left them in the depot, forcing the claimants, some of whom were physically disabled, to rummage through the rubbish containers. 

They only had minutes to pack their belongings

The Justice Department, representing the police and the Leisure and Cultural Services Department, had asked the claimants to pay HK$26,000 as court expenses incurred by the authorities in the proceedings, but Lam refused and instead ordered both sides to shoulder their own costs.

One of the claimants, Chan Chi-wing, said the ruling had served justice to two of his fellow street sleepers who died earlier. Chan, who uses a wheelchair said: "It's not a matter of how much I can claim, I'm fine as long as justice is served."

SoCO community organiser Ng Wai-tung called the ruling "belated justice", adding it was "ridiculous" that authorities failed to keep visual records of the confiscated items.

"The homeless should not be subject to humiliation," he said. "Their belongings are also private property. The right to private property is a basic human right, of which nobody should be deprived."

This is the third time homeless people have taken the authorities to court over confiscating their personal items without prior notice. The previous lawsuits in 2012 and 2016 were settled out of court.

The claimants were awarded HK$100 each

It is terrible seeing people sleeping on the street, but where else can they go? The government is not providing them the assistance they need, and instead trying to sweep them under the carpet...

Other good news?

Today's case count for Covid-19 was below 7,000 at 6,976, 135 deaths of which 117 were in the last 24 hours, and 18 backlogged.