Atlanta Clears Unhoused People Ahead of World Cup Matches

Outcry has followed a sweep carried out by Atlanta authorities near a World Cup site, with activists and community members accusing the city of discarding the possessions of unhoused people ahead of the tournament, according to The Guardian.

The Play Fair ATL coalition had spent months lobbying city officials to guarantee that police would not remove or arrest people living on the streets before and during the World Cup. The city, working alongside a nonprofit called Partners for Home, pointed to a programme that had housed around 500 people downtown as evidence of its commitments.

But residents say those promises did not hold everywhere. Atlanta police described the site as not meeting their definition of an encampment, since there were no tents or homemade beds, and said the items left there were treated as abandoned property. Those who gathered there disputed that account directly, with one resident telling The Guardian simply: "This is an encampment, because we gather here."