The Danish government will soon be making moves to give police the power to clear out and shut down makeshift campgrounds set up by homeless foreigners on Danish streets.
“They often leave a huge mess and we must not tolerate it,” Jan E Jørgensen, a member of Venstre’s legal affairs committee, told TV2 Lorry.
Law change needed
Since it is legal to sleep on the streets in Denmark, neither the police nor local authorities currently have the authority to clear the camps unless the residents commit some sort of criminal act.
The government wants to make the camps themselves against the law.
“We want to make it possible for the police to break up the camps,” said Jørgensen. “It shouldn’t be legal to take over benches and parks.”
A growing problem
Venstre will ask the Justice Ministry to craft a statute that criminalises camps without targeting the singular homeless person who cannot find space at a hostel or those camped in line for things like concert tickets.
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Jorgensen hopes his new bill will get traction in Parliament.
“It is a growing problem that must be addressed, so I cannot imagine there isn’t any support for a new law,” he said.
