Number of registered Hong Kong homeless soars as sky-high rents force people to sleep rough
Real number of street sleepers likely to be far higher than official figures suggest
The number of registered homeless people in Hong Kong has jumped almost 22 per cent in the past year as sky-high rents force the city’s poorest inhabitants to sleep rough.
Official figures tabled to the Legislative Council on Wednesday showed there were 1,127 registered street sleepers in the year 2017-18, up 21.9 per cent from 924 in 2016-17. The latest figure was an increase of 51 per cent from 2013-14.
But one community worker said even those numbers might not give the whole picture.
“We have always felt that the government’s figures are underestimated,” said Richard Tsoi Yiu-cheong, a community organiser with the Society for Community Organisation (SoCo), which helps street sleepers. “Studies conducted by academics and non-governmental organisations have put the figure at about 2,000.
“The problem with the government’s handling of the street sleepers is that you don’t know which department is responsible for this issue. The Social Welfare Department is involved and so is the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department.”
