Dozens of migrants living in a homeless camp that has been blighting a historic street in Manchester city centre for months have been evicted by bailiffs – only to emerge again nearby just hours later.
Manchester City Council tore through rows of tents outside the town hall this morning, a month on from getting permission from a court to dismantle the encampment in St Peter’s Square.
People who have spent the last few months living in their tents were abruptly woken at about 6.45am by council workers who ordered them to put their belongings in plastic bags and get out.
The tents were then hauled off the ground and thrown into bin lorries, while belongings that had not been packed were scattered over the floor.
Outraged activists who turned up to protest the evictions – but officials have insisted everyone living there had been offered help.
The council also said the only tents which were destroyed were those abandoned by their former residents, all of whom had the option to pack and take them elsewhere.
A spokesperson added that the tents had been occupied by ‘refugees who have been granted the right to remain in the country’.
Today’s intervention follows similar crackdowns on ‘tent cities’ across the country in response to homeless settlements and after court orders were granted.
Police and binmen in London were filmed in the winter of 2023 throwing tents into rubbish trucks in a move that sparked indignation from homelessness charities.
The Metropolitan Police issued a grovelling apology to a homeless man, 70, whose tent was hurled into a bin lorry and his belongings destroyed on an evening where temperatures plummeted to as low as 4C.
Homeless people were evicted from the ‘red tent camp’ in St Peter’s Square, Manchester
The council tore up a homeless camp in a city centre with bailiffs throwing tents into a bin lorry in a dawn crackdown
Workers ‘knocked’ on the tents and asked the homeless there to leave
At around 6.45am, those living in the group of tents known as the ‘red tent camp’ stationed outside the town hall in St Peter’s Square were told to move on
People were handed plastic bags for their belongings as bailiffs ‘knocked on’ tents and told them to leave as it rained in the city
Manchester Council was granted a possession order by a judge earlier this month, giving them permission to move those who are occupying the land.
A spokesperson said: ‘People were given the choice to pack up and take their tents with them. The only tents which were disposed of were ones which had been abandoned.
Temesgn Petros, 45, who is a refugee from Ethiopia, said: ‘They explain nothing.
‘They give us nothing. How are we meant to look towards a good future?
‘My life exists between the Ethiopian government and the UK Home Office.’
Mary, 23, who witnessed the evictions, told Mancunian Matters: ‘The council have a duty to house these people. Instead they chose to come and evict people from where they were being forced to sleep in tents.
‘Not only is this a huge waste of taxpayer money, but it also is completely inhumane.’
Some of those who were evicted have re-established the camp outside the Midland Hotel, just metres from the original location – including Modsher Mohammed, a 30-year-old man who came from Sudan, and 46-year-old Eritrean Omar Osmanm.
‘Where are the human beings?’ they asked. ‘They say work. How can I work if I do not have a house?’
‘[The council] just told us to rent private housing… they should help you. They kick you like a football, we are just in the same circle.’
Manchester City Council forcibly evicted dozens of people – many who are said to be refugees – from an encampment outside the town hall this morning
The ‘red tent camp’ outside the Town Hall in central Manchester has been torn down
A resident of the tent city in St Peter’s Square peeks his head out of his tent for a quick smoke break previously
The ‘red tent camp’ first appeared last spring, initially as a protest site but has rapidly become a go-to spot for the city’s homeless population
Locals branded the move ‘disgusting’ and ‘shocking’, with one saying : ‘This is terrible. What a way to treat people.’
‘Taking away the little bit of dignity that they have.’
John Leech, the leader of the Liberal Democrat opposition group, blasted the move.
He said: ‘We are not dealing with the underlying problem that we have in relation to people living on the streets.
‘In this instance with refugees, all we are doing is moving them from one places to another, and wasting resources frankly.’
The red tent camp sprang up last spring, initially as a protest, but soon morphed into a long-term spot homeless people stayed in.
Although they were moved on by authorities for Remembrance Sunday and New Year’s Eve fireworks celebrations, the camp has become a fixture on St Peter’s Square.
Earlier this month, the Greater Manchester Law Centre fronted a legal challenge in a bid to stop the council’s bid to take possession of the land. However, the challenge failed, giving the council the power to effectively evict those living in the encampment.
The Law Centre formally represented one asylum seeker, who saw the council’s claim against him withdrawn.
The case included dozens more unrepresented refugees, with roughly 40 appearing in civil court. During the proceedings, one refugee told His Honour Judge Nigel Bird he did ‘not think anybody with a tent there is happy or comfortable’.
But the judge ruled the refugees – considered trespassers in law – must remove their tents.
Tents stretch out along the arches of Manchester Town Hall
‘For many months now there has been a fluctuating number of tents in this public space, occupied by people who are refugees who have been granted the right to remain in the country,’ a Manchester City Council spokesperson said
The council said ‘with many still refusing to leave despite being repeatedly asked to do so – and other options having been exhausted – securing this order was a necessary step’
‘St Peter’s Square is a public amenity. It stands at the heart of the city and its amenity in my judgment is available for all. I am comforted each of the defendants, named or otherwise, is within part seven of the [housing] system and I am confident the system will move forward.’
Following the ruling, a town hall spokesperson said: ‘We welcome the decision to grant us a possession order for St Peter’s Square to bring the encampment there to an end.
‘For many months now there has been a fluctuating number of tents in this public space, occupied by people who are refugees who have been granted the right to remain the country.
‘We want to stress in the strongest possible terms that help is at hand for any Manchester resident facing homelessness. The Council’s homelessness service works hard alongside a fantastic network of voluntary and community sector organisations in the city to deliver that support.
‘In the case of refugees, we have provided advice and support and helped many to help themselves out of homelessness over the last year.’
A Manchester City Council spokesperson said: ‘The court order instructing people in the St Peter’s Square camp to leave the area was carried out successfully this morning.
‘This brings to an end the encampment which has been in place there for several months, with fluctuating numbers, occupied by people who are refugees who have been granted the right to remain in the country.
Footage showed Camden Council-contracted Veolia binmen hurling the tents into a bin lorry compactor in 2023
Police said they had been called to University College Hospital London amid reports of anti-social behaviour from homeless people sleeping in the area (file photo)
‘We have conducted homelessness assessments for people camping there and offered temporary accommodation to everyone who we owed a statutory duty – anyone classed as vulnerable and in priority need.
‘Others on site who were not classed as vulnerable were still offered advice and support, including a personal housing plan, to help them secure accommodation for themselves.
‘People were given the choice to pack up and take their tents with them. The only tents which were disposed of were ones which had been abandoned.
In January 2024, The Met issued a grovelling apology to a 70-year-old homeless man whose tent was picked up and hurled into a bin lorry by council workers under the orders of London’s police force.
Anthony Sinclair was among those whose personal belongings, including a mattress and toiletries, were removed from outside a north London hospital by Veolia council contractors and unceremoniously fed into a rubbish compactor on November 10.
He was arrested by police for refusing to leave the tent that he had lived in for several months as officers sought to remove the homeless population around University College London Hospital (UCLH) by means of a dispersal order.
Footage of the incident, which came days after former home secretary Suella Braverman described homelessness as a ‘lifestyle choice’, sparked outrage – and prompted Mr Sinclair to threaten legal action against the Metropolitan Police.
The force has since apologised in a letter sent to Mr Sinclair this week, with commissioner Sir Mark Rowley admitting the force had acted ‘unlawfully’. It is said to be preparing a compensation offer.
