Sheffield Students’ Union pro-Palestine protest encampment continues despite possession order

The Palestine protest encampment outside Sheffield Students’ Union is continuing despite a court granting the university a possession order last week.

On Monday a high court enforcement officer served the protestors with the notice and asked them to leave.

According to protest organisers, the officer told them police would come to remove them if they did not pack up their camp.

Students at the encampment say they are concerned by the prospect of bailiffs removing them by force.

The encampment outside the Students’ Union building is one of just a few remaining in the UK, as a succession of protest encampments at universities have dispersed after similar legal judgements.

In May, the number of student protest encampments in the UK peaked at 36, but now only a handful remain as students return home for the summer and encampments face similar legal actions from universities.

In recent weeks, encampments at a number of other universities have closed after facing possession orders.

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The number of protestors present at outside the Students’ Union building has fluctuated this summer, but protestors say they have maintained at least four people at the encampment at all times to ensure their presence persists.

Since the possession order was handed down, protestors have been even more careful to ensure that the camp is manned at all times. The group ensures that as members move in and out of the encampment for during the working day, numbers remain sufficient to ensure safety.

The numbers involved at the camp are much less than earlier this summer, with only three people present this afternoon.

Only one tent remains for the reduced numbers that stay in the camp overnight.

The camp today, with only one tent remaining

The encampment on its first day in May