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Baltic city offers homeless ‘one-way ticket’ out of town

PR dla Zagranicy
John Beauchamp 04.03.2015 16:48
Authorities in Świnoujście, which straddles the border with Germany, have started to offer the city’s homeless a one-way train ticket away from the city to try and clean up the town’s reputation.
Photo: cc/wiki/Specjal bPhoto: cc/wiki/Specjal b

So far three homeless residents of Świnoujście have taken the municipal authorities up on the offer, with two more deliberating leaving the city.

The move is being administered by Paweł Sujka, second deputy mayor of the Baltic town which lies on the border with Germany.

Sujka announced that the homeless residents of Świnoujście will be persuaded by authorities to take advantage of the offer and take the one-way ticket, thanks to which the city dwellers will be able to return ‘back home’.

The costs of the ticket are to be covered by the city’s Municipal Centre for Family Aid.

Śwunoujście authorities are claiming that the city’s homeless residents – some of whom live in bunkers near the city’s beach – are causing a nuisance for tourists by sleeping on benches, drinking alcohol in parks, and harassing visitors.

“Currently we have eleven people with whom we are working to try and mobilise these homeless people into accepting this kind of help,” city streetworker Andrzej Zieliński told broadcaster TVP.

However, Zieliński has admitted that forcing people to leave often has the opposite effect, saying that “continuous help and government aid would be a better idea”.

The streetworker added that Świnoujście authorities do not want to force people to leave, but rather show the benefits which the city’s homeless people could get from such an offer.

“Such a person can make up with his or her family, and can find a way to get reintegrate themselves into society,” Zieliński maintains.

While three of Świnoujście’s homeless residents have taken advantage of the idea, authorities estimate that around 50 people still live on the city’s streets.

One homeless person told TVP that “I would go to visit my aunt in Kraków, I’ve got nothing to return to in Ruda Śląska, my aunt in Kraków could help out”.

However, some of the city’s homeless have discounted the city’s proposal, with one man saying “I’ve been here 19 years and I like it,” with another telling the broadcaster that “half of Poland lives here: Ruda Śląska, Kraków, Warsaw…”

“You wait until the summer.” (jb)

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