The criminalization of the homeless in Hungary

by Kevin James Moore Thursday, November 24th, 2011

Cleared out of bridge underpasses, hiding in underground stations, finding refugein forests, the homeless people of Budapest feel they are being treated as fugitives onthe run. This has FEANSTA, the European Federation of Nation Organizations workingwith the homeless, expressing concerns over concerted attacks in Hungary. The countryis seeking punitive measures against dumpster-diving and street sleeping and FEANTSAforesees this leading to the criminalization of the homeless.

Most of the focus on the growing trend to enforce laws that will lead to theimprisonment of the homeless is falling on the shoulders of István Tarlós, mayor ofBudapest. Tarlós has said, “those who believe that all problems would be solved ifhomeless people were given housing […] are mistaken.”The Mayor of Budapest believes his city is following the strict regulations setforth by other European nations that include Austria, the United Kingdom, France,Spain, Germany, and Holland. FEANSTA has countered with evidence that eventhough many European nations apply strict rules for services that grant the homelessfunding and support, there are no laws in those countries that threaten significant fines orimprisonment as in Hungary.Boróka Fehér, Representative of Tizek Társasága, an umbrella organization ofBudapest homeless service providers, said that after his election last October Tarlós declared a “Program of Public Reconciliation.”

“Although the program was never fully developed in written form, its mostobvious element was the clearing of 13 of busiest inner city underpasses of roughsleepers,” said Fehér. “Without any additional financial support offered, he orderedthese underpasses to be cleared, meaning that after a period of 30 days, while outreachworkers tried to offer accommodation to the people they had registered as living in thoseunderpasses, the police moved in and sent rough sleepers outside.

”There was no legal framework to back up the clearing out of the underpasses.Some Hungarian human right watch groups and Fehér claimed it to be a violation andfelt it was propaganda, as only the underpasses most frequented by tourist were clearedout. Fehér’s main concern was that there was no viable solutions to the homeless that hadbeen displaced and left them to the limited option of moving on to the underpasses thathad yet to be raided.Part of problem is the opaqueness of an amendment passed by the HungarianParliament in the autumn of 2010, which defines the functions of public places andallows the municipalities to create a criminal offence for the use of public places ifthe use is not in line with its functions. Stefánia Kapronczay, of the Hungarian CivilLiberties Union, said, “The justification of the amendment revealed the real purposeof it, which is charging homeless people for sleeping in public places and usingthem “inappropriately”.”

“Before this amendment coming into force the Mayor of Budapest announced hisproject to clear the inner city of Budapest and terminated the contract with those NGOsinvolved in services provided for homeless people,” said Kapronczay. “The municipalityof Budapest introduced its decree on the non-conform use of public places anddefined “residing in public spaces” as a criminal offense. People who live on the publicplaces as a life style or to store their belongings used for living there can be charged witha fine up to 50,000 HUF (216 USD).”Tarlós confronts these allegations and claims Budapest is in accord with otherWestern European countries concerning issues of public space rules, homeless rights andregulations. “Even the liberal Netherlands has got more consistent and more explicit rulesthan Budapest,” said Tarlós.

“I think that the interests of the majority of the citizens of Budapest count morethan the opinion of various ill-informed organizations who are not aware of the realsituation or who are inaccurately informed.” He added, “They are not responsible for thiscity, while I am.”“We only criminalize what is criminal. Homeless people too have to abide bythe law and rules of human coexistence,” said Tarlós regarding on how his city treats thehomeless.Tarlós’s evaluation of Budapest’s homeless situation and solutions may bedistorted by comparing his tactics against those of other European nations. “I think Tarlósis not aware of what is happening in other European cities,” said Fehér.

“Some of hiscolleagues might have visited a huge shelter in London or Paris, and now think that this isall there is, but it is obviously not the case.”The homeless shelters in Budapest are overcrowded and dilapidated, according toFehér. “There are [shelters] where people have to sleep in huge dormitories of 12-20-50people. There are still some, where there are bugs that bite and carry infections.”Funding for homeless shelters has been going down in the past few years andmany shelters are struggling for survival and don’t have the money to offer moreattractive services, according to Fehér. “There is only one service in Budapest offeringindividual bedrooms, and there are only a few offering double rooms for couples. Theirmodernization would cost a considerable amount of money.”In October Tarlós proclaimed that Budapest would open new host sites andshelters for the homeless and would follow through on a proposal passed by the GeneralAssembly of Budapest in August to establish and renovate three shelters in the city’s 4th,1st, and 8th districts.“It is true that we build and establish new homeless shelters. We provide hundredsof millions for this,” said Tarlós.

“Furthermore, we also provide working opportunitiesfor the homeless through our public service companies who are already employing morethan 400 homeless people.”The mayor’s primary objective is to achieve a state where homeless people cansleep in human conditions and not out in the streets, and provide an opportunity so thatthe homeless can work, which he believes will promote their integration into society in asignificant way.The widespread affront against the homeless seems to be bottlenecking inBudapest’s notorious 8th district. The 8th district is traditionally the poorest district of thecity and heaviest hit by all kinds of social problems. The area has one of the highest ratesof unemployment and school dropouts.

There also a number of elderly people scraping byon meager pensions.Máté Kocsis is the mayor of the 8th district, a member of FIDEZ the samepolitical party as Tarlós, and Fehér sarcastically deems him “the party’s expert onhomelessness.”“Máté Kocsis would like to make the district a yuppie one, and is doing all hecan to ensure this,” said Fehér. New development projects in the 8th district are leadingto the displacement of homeless people, and instead of revitalizing neighborhoods andencouraging a social mix, Kocsis has tried to push poor people out of the center of thedistrict.The opening of a 24/7 booking center exclusively for the homeless in the 8thdistrict in October has riled many in the community. It has been set up to deliver peoplewho have been caught in the act of rough sleeping, or looking through the contents of agarbage bin, or who are caught smoking or drinking alcohol in a forbidden place.

Fehérsees this as hypocritical, “The 8th district has forbidden smoking in certain public placesin the district, mostly in the slum areas, while smoking in public is still allowed in theyuppie restaurant district and squares frequented by students.”The booking center is seen as a tool for penalizing and harassing thehomeless. “The booking center is a police station in reality, where police bring peoplefor ‘questioning’ and then either send them away with a warning, or give them a ticket.”Fehér added, “There have been people who were brought in for questioning every singleday, as they persisted in sleeping rough. Informally, the police were told to advisehomeless people to go and sleep in one of the other districts.

”Recently demonstrations have been held to oppose what people have deemed theunconstitutional and inhumane treatment of the homeless in their city. A group called TheCity is for All marched in the streets on 17, October to stop a government proposal toincrease fines and imprisonment on people who are found residing in public places. Up toa thousand people attended the demonstration, which ended dramatically when hundredsof people lay down on the street in front of the Parliament building, while other activistdressed as police officers tried to drag them off to jail. For the demonstrators, laws thatpunish the homeless for not having housing are not the solution.“I think it is shameful that the 8th district has spent much more on its campaignof criminalizing homeless people than what they spend on services for the homelessthemselves,” said Fehér.

Fehér believes Budapest can start reversing the trend of targeting the homeless bytaking a first step with a minimalist solution that would begin with affordable single unitoccupancies. “At the moment there are 300 plus such units in Budapest, and the waitinglist is more than a year long, for a small bedroom, with shared kitchen and bathroomfacilities.”Ending homelessness is the only solution for making sure mistreatment doesnot continue. “We urge the preparation of a strategy on homelessness. Such a strategyshall focus on prevention and provide effective ways out of homelessness,” saidKapronczay. “In our (Hungarian Civil Liberties Union) opinion staying at a shelter canonly be considered as temporary solution.”Meanwhile politicians have welcomed the homeless to shovel snow this winter inorder for them to earn some money to rent their own places.

“I think it is shameful thatyoung men who have been politicians and worn suits all their lives are running wholedistricts and evicting or harassing people much older than them who are down on theirluck,” said Fehér. “These young men call on the value of honest work, while they havebeen earning at least 10 times the minimal wage all their lives and have never knownwhat it is like to have no money or not be able to pay the rent.”Demonstrators will continue to protest the passing of bills that will further lead tothe criminalization of the homeless. They march carrying signs that read “Habitat Insteadof Prison” and “The Poor are not Criminals.”