[Squat!net]

Tuesday, 13 June 2017 – Abahlali baseMjondolo Press Statement

One death and several injuries in Marianhill, three arrests in Kranskop

Today we came under serious attack from the Land Invasions Unit in eMansenseni in Marianhill. One person is confirmed dead, two are in a critical condition in hospital and a number of others are injured – all shot in the back. It was a war zone. The Land Invasions Unit didn’t talk to anyone. They just fired live ammunition. The intention was clearly to kill, to teach a lesson. [Read More]

There are no hotels in Crete. Missing spaces are missing.

During the last years all the governments have carried out several campaigns of elimination of the self-managed spaces. What they want to achieve is that we find ourselves only in our homes, in the cafes, in the bars and in the shopping centers. That is, they want us to be just consumers and customers. Consequently, the offensive that Rosa Nera is facing in Chania is not fortuitous. The Rosa Nera building belongs to the Polytechnic School of Chania, and for thirteen years has been a place of struggle and emblematic culture, also covering roofing needs. In its facilities the tireless people who have worked hard to give life to the building have created a theater, a library and reading room, a space for presentations (of artistic creations), a children’s park, a construction workshop, a space in which is a bazaar of gifts, an oven for the production of artisanal bread, and a coffee. [Read More]

Grenfell Tower must mark a turning point for UK housing – community protest called for Saturday 18 June, 12 noon.

In response to the horror at Grenfell Tower, Grenfell Action Group and Radical Housing Network have called a protest at Kensington & Chelsea (RBKC) Town Hall this Saturday.

Radical Housing Network is a London-wide alliance of grassroots housing campaigns of which Grenfell Action Group are a member. The group are calling on estate campaigners, community groups and tenants from across London to join Saturday’s protest to demand #Justice4Grenfell. [Read More]

City Plaza will not bend / Resist the “immigration & passport bureaus”, the frightful flags of states and diplomacy war weapons factories

The court order for the evacuation of the Refugee Accommodation Space City Plaza is the latest scene in the repressive management of refugees and the solidarity movement. From the closure of the borders to the shameful EU-Turkey deal, from the prisonlike camps to the evacuation of squats, a policy of casting refugees as a peculiar enemy is being articulated. [Read More]

A school building that has been empty for 7 years was squatted in Waverveen, Netherlands.

On Sunday June 4th a convoy arrived into the green village of Waverveen to squat a small school, on the Botsholsedwarsweg 13A. Owned by the Gemeente de Ronde Venen, the school named ‘Poldertrots’ has been empty for 7 years.

Sunday:
The cops have been and gone after some mild confusion, so we will wait for the arrival of more authorities or Geemente representatives. [Read More]

This morning, wednesday June 14th, 2017, the Mossos d’Esquadra (police force of Catalonia) have evicted la Rimaia squat, located at 12 Ronda de Sant Pau. Occupied several times, the last time it has been occupied was between April 20th, 2016 and… June 14th, 2017. [Read More]

‘Managed decline’ of council housing and contempt for tenants contributed to fire

Radical Housing Network, a London-wide alliance of groups fighting for housing justice, said the Grenfell fire was a tragic consequence of systematic disinvestment in council housing alongside disregard for council tenants safety and their concerns – and called for #JusticeforGrenfell.

The catastrophe at Grenfell Tower was foreseen by a community group on the estate. Just 7 months ago, Grenfell Action Group, a member of Radical Housing Network, warned that failings in the estate management organisation’s health and safety practices were a “recipe for a future major disaster”. These warnings were dismissed by Royal Borough of Kensington & Chelsea (RBKC) council.

It’s been revealed that Gavin Barwell, Conservative Chief of Staff and ex-Minister for Housing, ‘sat on’ a report warning that tower blocks were vulnerable to fire. Last year, Barwell was one of 312 Tory MPs who voted against making properties ‘fit for human habitation’. [Read More]

We are an autonomus, self-managed collective based on libertarian and anti-authoritarian principles. We are living on Ashmakh Fwthla 18 in Exarcheia.
We come from several countries, including Greece.

The governing organ of our community is the General Essembly (GA). All important decisions regarding the house or its inhabitants must be approved by GA. Any decision taken otherwise will not be considered legitimate. We will not tolerate any threat of our autonomy, and will protect it. At the same time we perceive the solidarity among squats as self explanatory and continuous situation.

We will be vigilant and active in the struggle against drugs and drug dealing around the area of Exarchia as well as against the possibility of this happening inside the movement.

In addition, we are open to suggestions and political projects that promote the non-profit and anticonstitutional character, the strengthening of relationships among comrades and the general struggle for revolution and Anarchy. We want and we have the ability to house self-educational activities, as well as activities that promote political discussion and communication.

We send our greetings to the revolutionary comrades that fight for freedom around the world, and all the political prisoners that have been kidnapped by the state. Our space constitutes from the beginning a crossroad for comrades from all around the globe and we desire to remain as such.

Whoever wants to take part in our community life and build a connection with us or has some projects or ideas, are welcome every Friday at 1p.m. At this time we organise collective kitchen. [Read More]

The Obsaď a žij collective has been kicked out by riot police from the building squatted on Hybernská 10, in the center of Prague. The building is owned by real estate company ÚZSVM. Video of the eviction is posted on June 10th. Reports of the action were posted on the Klinika blog on June 6th. [Read More]

Hands off from City Plaza and all other Refugee Squats!

At June 7th, 2017 the news came out that a court ordered the eviction of City Plaza Refugee Accommodation and two other refugee squats in Athens. Projects like City Plaza succeed in where the Greek government and other EU member states fail; a self-determined life, a life with dignity for those who traveled to a putative Europe under extreme hard conditions. A life where it doesn’t matter which papers people have but instead a life where people can live together in a self-organised way.

Since the former City Plaza hotel was squatted more than a year ago, after the building was empty for several years, more than 1500 people lived in the building. 400 at any one time. Among them where many refugees and supporters from many countries. While EU member states closed their borders, sharpened their asylum laws, detaining and deporting more and more refugees, people in Athens have buildup self-organised projects like City Plaza together with refugees.

In the past year repression against refugees and supporters has increased with evictions, arrests and police violence in various EU member states. Some of the squats where refugees lived in a self-organised way were evicted, for instance in Thessaloniki, Athens and Belgrade. Again and again there are reports from police violence against refugees in France, Croatia, Hungary and other European countries. Since the EU/Turkey deal refugees are being detained at the Greek islands and deported back to Turkey. But also in Germany more and more refugees are being detained and deported. [Read More]

On the 18th of May, employees of the electricity company Iberdrola came to cut of electricity to the squatted Errekaleor neighbourhood in Gasteiz (In Spanish; Vitoria), Euskadi. The employees were accompanied by dozens of riot cops. This could well be the start of a campaign to evict the squats in Errekaleor. After the action a wave of solidarity started. On the third of June there will be a demo in Gasteiz.

Yesterday the City Council of Vitoria assured that it will implement the “recommendation” of the General Secretariat of the Plenary to establish public lighting in the ‘squatter’ district of Errekaleor again, but has also stated that it will also take into account the “safety” motives that motivated the cut of the electricity. The city council ordered to cut off electricity in the first place and city authorities declared once again that they have every intention to evict the squats in Errekaleor. [Read More]

“Housing is a need, not a privilege”, “Housing for people, not for profit”. Banners with slogans like these hang from windows in any number of European cities. Across Europe, increasing social inequality is making some urban spaces inaccessible to those who used to inhabit them. Gentrification, corporatization and so-called “urban regeneration” projects are leading to the demolition of social and accessible housing, replaced by unaffordable apartments. This leads to the increased eviction and displacement of tenants from their homes and their relocation to the suburbs and peripheries.

Houses, once owned by councils or their occupants, have become investment opportunities for large corporations. With up to 200,000 living spaces intentionally kept vacant in the UK, houses are being stripped of their social value and becoming objects to secure the elites’ wealth. Workers in precarious positions, families, low wage households and students are being displaced or made homeless, while surrounded by vacant properties. [Read More]