Auckland New Zealand June 20 2018 Homeless people in Auckland say they have been kicked awake at night by security guards trying to move them on from shop doorways.

Two rough sleepers living in the city centre said they had also been told the police would be called if they refused to move.

Auckland Council’s Public Safety and Nuisance Bylaw says people cannot use public places to “beg in a manner that may intimidate or cause a nuisance to any person”.

A retailer told Stuff it strived to provide a welcoming environment for all, but staff would be on hand to manage anyone acting in an anti-social way.

However, some homeless people claimed they were often treated unfairly when they had done nothing wrong.

One rough sleeper living in Manukau said beggars were not being treated well and claimed it was a human rights issue.

“It’s how they speak to us,” the man, who did not want to be named, said.

“They treat us like we don’t belong anywhere.

“I’m a beggar and I ask people for money, but it’s up to them if they choose to give you change or not. It’s freedom of choice.”

Pop, who lives rough in downtown Auckland, said he had learned how to deal with retail stores and security guards asking him to move on.

“I may be homeless, but I’m not hopeless,” Pop said.

“I’ve been woken up by security guards demanding me to move and threatening me with being trespassed or police.”

He did not believe he was doing anything wrong as he never hassled anyone, instead sitting quietly with a sign asking for money.

“Hi, need money for food not beer or drugs,” the sign read.

“No job, looking. Thanks, God bless you

Fiona, who has been homeless since the age of 15, said she had been kicked by security guards in the middle of the night to move.

“That’s how they wake us up. That’s not right,” Fiona said.

“If they want to wake us up they should tap us on the arm or something instead of kicking us.”

Although annoyed by the way she was treated, she said she would move as she did not feel she had any other choice.

“I don’t mind. If they want us to move, then we have to move,” Fiona said.

“We can’t stop that. This is their building.”

The Manukau man, who has been on the streets “off and on, here and there” for more than a decade, said he wondered where he and his fellow rough sleepers fitted into society.

He said: “You form a bond with certain people [because] they see you day in, day out.

“Then somebody comes up to you and is like, ‘Hey, you’ve got to move and if you don’t we’ll call the police’.”

He said he sometimes returned to places he had been moved from as he didn’t believe that was the “right way to go about it”.

“How can they expect us to listen to them if they won’t listen to us?

“How do we express our point of view without … standing up for ourselves?”

The rough sleeper said he did not bother or hurt anyone and he had sought advice from Friendship House in Manukau, which provides a range of services to people in need, on what to do about being moved on.

Friendship House chief executive Neil Denney​ said the man was concerned the homeless from Manurewa had been moved on and had found their way to Manukau.

“Some security companies in the area are asking them to move along from [different] places.

He said the rough sleeper was concerned “they’re not being treated well and it’s a human rights issue now”.

Denney said a colleague told him security guards do a “sweep” around the Westfield Manukau shopping centre before it opened to move any rough sleepers in doorways.

“If they stay too long in one place … for a length of time they are moved on, and if they’re begging from passersby they are moved on immediately.

“They’re generally left alone during the day in public areas.”

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A spokesperson for Westfield Manukau said the company “strives to create an environment where each and every person feels welcome”.

“Our role in the community is important to us and we treat all members of the community appropriately and with care.

“Part of this is prioritising the safety and security of our customers and on occasion an individual displays anti-social behaviour, Westfield staff members are on hand to help manage [it] appropriately.”

In July last year, Auckland Council estimated there were about 24,000 homeless people in the city.

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