A/HRC/43/43 32. The Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights and the Human Rights Committee have recognized distinctions based on socioeconomic status, including homelessness, as a form of discrimination that must be prohibited in domestic law. 25 States have an immediate obligation to respond urgently to the needs of persons who are currently homeless as well as to implement plans to prevent and eliminate systemic homelessness as swiftly as possible. 33. Implementation measures: (a) States should provide access to safe, secure and dignified emergency accommodation, with necessary supports and without discrimination on any grounds, including migration status, nationality, gender, family status, sexual identity, age, ethnic origin, disability, dependence on alcohol or drugs, criminal record, outstanding fines or health. 26 States should take special measures to protect the rights of children in street situations;27 (b) Individuals and families should be provided access to adequate permanent housing so as not to be compelled to rely on emergency accommodation for extended periods. “Housing first” approaches that centre on quickly moving people experiencing homelessness into permanent housing should provide all necessary supports for as long as required for sustaining housing and living in the community; (c) States should prohibit and address discrimination on the ground of homelessness or other housing status and repeal all laws and measures that criminalize or penalize homeless people or behaviour associated with being homeless, such as sleeping or eating in public spaces. The forced eviction of homeless persons from public spaces and the destruction of their personal belongings must be prohibited. Homeless persons should be equally protected from interference with privacy and the home, wherever they are living; (d) States should provide, within their justice system, alternative procedures for dealing with minor offences of homeless people to help them break the cycle of criminalization, incarceration and homelessness and secure the right to housing. Police should be trained to interact with homeless persons in a manner that respects and promotes their dignity and rights. Guideline No. 6. Prohibit forced evictions and prevent evictions whenever possible 34. Forced evictions are defined as the permanent or temporary removal against their will of individuals, families and/or communities from the homes and/or land which they occupy, without the provision of, and access to, appropriate forms of legal or other protection that are compliant with international human rights law. 28 Forced evictions have long been recognized as a gross violation of human rights. 35. In order for any eviction to comply with international human rights law, a number of criteria must be met, including meaningful engagement with those affected, exploration of all viable alternatives, relocation to adequate housing agreed upon by the affected households so that no one is rendered homeless, access to justice to ensure procedural fairness, and compliance with all human rights. Where these criteria are not met, evictions are deemed to have been forced and to constitute a violation of the right to housing. 36. Forced evictions are widespread and devastating in their consequences. They are frequently carried out to make way for large-scale development projects, natural resource extraction and agribusiness projects, to clear informal settlements or homeless 25 26 27 28 8 Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, general comment No. 20 (2009) on nondiscrimination in economic, social and cultural rights, para. 35, and Human Rights Committee, general comment No. 36 (2018) on the right to life, para. 61. A/HRC/31/54. For indigenous peoples’ experience of homelessness, see A/74/183. See in particular the Committee on the Rights of the Child’s general comment No. 21. Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, general comment No. 7, para. 3.