Amsterdam to stop fining homeless people for sleeping on city streets

Homeless people sleeping on the streets of Amsterdam will no longer be fined for doing so. The city’s mayor, Femke Halsema, wrote in a letter to the city council that she plans to stop the fines with immediate effect because, according to her, it "doesn't actually help.” The fines have not led to a drop in homeless people sleeping on the streets, Halsema said. It also puts them further into financial problems, which leads to unpaid fines and irrecoverable costs for the municipality as they have to send reminders and increase the fines.