Tomas Lusas, a Lithuanian nationwide, was awarded £10,000 after being illegally detained
The authorities is to pay tons of of 1000's of kilos to European rough sleepers who have been illegally detained and deported.
Figures obtained by the BBC reveal that within the yr to May 2017, 698 homeless EU nationals have been focused and faraway from the nation.
The Home Office stated no additional motion was being taken towards European residents for rough sleeping.
Law corporations advised the BBC that not less than 45 shoppers have been at present pursuing claims.
Each declare is value 1000's of kilos, and varies in keeping with the size of time spent in detention in addition to different aggravating components.
'Freedom taken away'
Tomas Lusas, from Lithuania, was arrested by immigration officers in 2016 after being kicked out of his dwelling and compelled onto the streets in west London.
He stated: "One morning I used to be woken up in my sleeping bag. There have been six or seven officers and so they stated 'Home Office'.
"They took my ID. Two minutes later I used to be in handcuffs. Two minutes after that I used to be in a van.
"I used to be shouting, 'I am gonna lose my job in case you arrest me as we speak'. But no person listened to me. Nobody allowed me to elucidate why I used to be sleeping rough."
Mr Lusas refused to signal his elimination papers and was detained at Brook House Immigration Centre in Gatwick for 19 days.
"It was like being in jail," he stated.
"Your freedom is taken away. And what kills you is that you do not know the tip of your sentence.
"I've spent 9 years of my life in England and I did not wish to go away simply because I used to be sleeping rough."
Mr Lusas appealed towards his deportation and was profitable. He was later awarded greater than £10,000 in damages.
Unlawful and discriminatory
The Home Office below Theresa May launched the idea of rough sleeping as an abuse of EU treaty rights two years in the past.
But immigration enforcement groups have been focusing on rough sleepers even when they have been in work or had an everlasting proper of residence within the UK.
The coverage was halted after a judicial evaluation in December dominated it to be illegal and discriminatory.
Leonie Hirst, an immigration and public legislation barrister, stated anybody from the EU or the European Economic Area who had been detained or deported in comparable circumstances might now make a potential declare.
"The EU legislation is obvious and really strong, however the coverage was a very flimsy try and misuse the legislation, merely to fulfill immigration targets," she stated.
"I feel it's extremely unlikely, notably given that folks have been focused who have been working, that this coverage has carried out something besides price vital quantities of public cash."
Ms Hirst stated she had heard proof that immigration groups have been working to quotas.
She stated she had seen instances the place officers have been ignoring the standard follow of inquiring into particular person circumstances earlier than deciding whether or not to take away them.
"One of my shoppers advised immigration officers that he had payslips with him to show he was working, and he had the response, 'we do not wish to see these, we're working quotas'," she stated.
A Home Office spokesperson acknowledged that "claims for compensation shall be thought-about on a case-by-case foundation" and that the federal government was "decided to interrupt the homelessness cycle".