Budapest street cleaners accused of robbing homeless

A non-profit organization has accused the Budapest Public Area Supervisory Body (Fővárosi Közterület-felügyelet) of taking personal belonings of homeless people living at an underpass in District XIII.

The Man of the Street Volunteer Network (Utca Embere Önkéntes Hálózat) told inforadio.hu that on Wednesday morning, public area supervisors ordered the homeless who had been living at the Lehel tér underpass to leave, and forced them to stand outside in the rain. The organization claims that the cleaners took personal belongings from the homeless.

Ferenc Janocsek, spokesperson for the supervisory body, said that their employees had just asked the homeless to leave their places until the underpass is cleaned and sanitized. He added that their belongings were not taken, and after the cleaning was finished, they were allowed to return.

In a recent, similar incident, homeless people were forced to leave Budapest's foresty areas and parks where they lived in shacks. The ministry of welfare and employement then promised to help them find a home and work.

Around 30,000 people are homeless in Hungary, and one-third of them live in Budapest. Among them, 6,000 are always in the street. This year, Ft 7 billion (€27.7 million) will be spent on helping them.

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