Madrid: The Government wants to evict La Ingobernable in 24 hours despite the state of emergency

By: fawda - April 16th, 2020  Filed under: Communique, News

This Tuesday, April 14, we learned through publication in the BOE (Official State Bulletin) that the Ministry of Justice was giving us 48 hours to leave the new open space occupied by La Ingobernable in Calle Alberto Bosch, 4.

The deadline is today. And we are not only faced with a new demonstration of the absolute lack of interest in dialogue between this Ministry and Minister Juan Carlos Campo, but also with a particular use of the right of an administration that has decided that its priority in the midst of the quarantine is to resume a process such as the eviction of La Ingobernable, omitting even the right of allegation, all in order to deprive Madrid of a self-managed space. In this case, there are several reasons why it seems to us to be a particularly shabby move.

Firstly, we cannot even remotely understand how this government has set as a priority in the current context the resumption of the administrative process for the eviction of this social center. A place that, as we already defended in our previous communiqué, will be essential, like the rest of the social centers, for the post-quarantine scenario. [Read More]

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Calais: Police violence an open letter

By: sisulscz - April 16th, 2020  Filed under: Communique

To the Préfet of Pas-de-Calais
To the media
To all people concerned
Calais, Monday 13 th April 2020
Open Letter from the Eritrean community of Calais Jungle

Before we get to start writing our complaint about what is happening to us with the CRS (Compagnies Républicaines de Sécurité), we would like to say something about ourselves; We are migrants from Eritrea. The reason we are here is because we want to live in a safe place, and have a future. We are not criminals, we are just innocent migrants trying to go to the UK and pursue our dreams.

Our complaint is about the CRS company and their aggressive, impulsive actions on us.
They don’t think that we are humans. They called us names like monkey, bitch, etc….
And a couple weeks ago, they started threatening our lives by keeping on beating us every time they get a chance, like when they found two or three people walking around the foodstreet (note : near the food distribution place) or, in our tents when we are sleeping.
They keep driving fast towards us on the street, like they want to run us over, and they started taking people with them to some places outside of Calais and keeping on beating them until they faint out.
They hide their personal code (note: RIO number) when they are doing something wrong to us. And whenever they see we are recording while they are doing so, they break our mobiles and our bodies.
[Read More]

Zürich: We squatted four houses in Altstetten today

By: sisulscz - April 16th, 2020  Filed under: Communique

Zürich. Switzerland. April 9, 2020. We (Für alle ein Zuhause – English: A home for all) have squatted four empty houses in Altstetten today to create a home and refuge for people from the virus. Like any emergency, this one hits hardest those for whom the circumstances were already difficult before.

To protect the population, the Federal Council appeals to everyone to stay at home in solidarity. While the majority in Switzerland has the privilege of being able to retreat into a house, those who cannot are left out in the cold. Some people have no papers, their rights are denied. They are illegalized, isolated and ignored. Many of these people are locked up in so-called asylum centres, prisons and camps. Their freedom and self-determination are denied to them. Again other people have “fallen through the cracks” – they do not fit into the meritocracy. Our society accepts the premature death of all these people, because protective measures do not seem to apply to them. This situation was intolerable even before Corona. Now it becomes even clearer that it cannot go on like this for one more day.
[Read More]

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UK: Don’t believe the hype. Evictions continue despite moratorium

By: fawda - April 4th, 2020  Filed under: News

The ban is a lie. Despite the UK government declaring a “complete ban on evictions” due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, in the last 24 hours an autonomous homeless shelter in Brighton and an occupied space in Peckham have been illegally evicted by people claiming to be bailiffs, allegedly with the full support and cooperation of the Sussex and Metropolitan police officers in attendance.

The government’s no evictions claim is really just the abdication of due process and the scant judicial protections formerly afforded to tenants, squatters and the under-class in general.

Get ready. The bailiffs and their bosses are taking the law into their own hands, with the police in full support. [Read More]

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Calais: Coronavirus, housing and deportations

By: fawda - April 2nd, 2020  Filed under: News

For more than two weeks now, France has been on lock-down. With most French people unable to leave their homes, migrants in Calais are still being evicted from theirs. Human Rights Observers in Calais have counted 45 deportations since March 17th. A police union, Synergie-Officiers, has called for an end to these daily deportations, but the department and prefecture still insist they continue. The PAF (Police Aux Frontiers) have stopped carrying out these daily deportations in the city, initially retreating to their work in the detention centre. This just means different cops do them (CRS and Gendarmerie).

The crisis that is the states’ response to the coronavirus pandemic does not show any signs of letting up. Additional powers are being granted to states from now. As one example (stay aware of others) of the state using the pandemic to meet its goals that could not otherwise be easily achieved, Greece used it to justify evicting many families from the Politechnio squat.

In Calais, health and sanitation have already been used as excuses for deportations. Despite a later ruling against the closing of shops and restaurants in the jungle, armed police seized food, water, gas, cigarettes in 2016, under pretext of “sanitary control.” Calling it a humanitarian intervention, in 2014, the state evicted about 650 people because of scabies and sanitation. Neither then nor now, the state took responsibility for creating these conditions for people or gave solutions. [Read More]

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Brighton: Another illegal eviction

By: sisulscz - April 2nd, 2020  Filed under: Communique

Yesterday (1 April) the DiY Kodak Collective (previously on S!N) were again illegally evicted from a building. This is the second time in a week. This time it was a squatted basement flat, part of the complex which used to be the Hostelpoint at Pool Valley coach station in central Brighton.

Three men claiming to be the owners came by at noon to threaten violence unless the squatters left by 9am on 2 April. They then came back at 7pm the same day with a sledgehammer and smashed their way in. While they did so, a passerby flagged down a police car. Instead of arresting the angry men brandishing a sledgehammer, the police entered the squat, quoting PACE 17 which is complete nonsense. The legal warning was on the door stating that anyone using force to enter was breaking the law. No-one wanted to stay and wait for more violence to come, so we decided to leave.
[Read More]

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Madrid: Imagine not having social centers

By: fawda - March 31st, 2020  Filed under: Communique, News

Last week, in the midst of all the commotion caused by the current health crisis, we were stupefied by the publication in the BOE (Official State Bulletin) of the resumption of the administrative process to evict the new social centre at Calle Alberto Bosch, 4. Despite the fact that last 14 March, with the Royal Decree of Covid19 , all administrative procedures, including ours, were stopped, the Ministry of Justice has decided to resume it on the grounds of “public health reasons”. As we have made public, our activity in the building is on hold since the declaration of the state of emergency, following the recommendations and restrictions implemented to curb the epidemic. Obviously, we conclude from this that the rush to resume the eviction procedure is based on political will. Taking advantage of the state of exception that prevents us from defending ourselves, the intention is to carry out a new aggression against self-managed social centers and deprive the city of Madrid of an essential space for social movements.

This situation has made us ask ourselves some questions: what role will social centres play in the coming period? Is it really relevant, in the midst of this gigantic systemic crisis, that a space like the new headquarters of the Ungovernable should disappear? Can we imagine a Madrid without social centres? [Read More]

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UK: Evictions held over, hotels for the homeless — Covid is upending housing

By: fawda - March 31st, 2020  Filed under: News

The legal situation has been changing so rapidly that even full-timers are struggling to keep up, but with the introduction of Practice Direction 51Z it looks like eviction proceedings are finally off the table for now and we have time to take stock of what is now utterly uncharted territory in British housing.

Minutes after I’d finished an article regarding the situation regarding squats and ongoing evictions in Britain the information became outdated, as emergency procedural changes were brought in by the government, in theory protecting everyone, squatters, renters, and the street homeless, from the risks of being out on the streets during this period. Let’s explore what each of these measures might realistically mean.

Up until this moment, the government had promised a three-month breather for mortgage repayments, and then – under pressure – caved and stated that tenants who fail to pay rent will be protected from eviction for the next three months. This does not mean a lot in practice, as the rent still needs to be paid, and agreements for doing so settled on. [Read More]

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Berlin: 12 places squatted

By: sisulscz - March 31st, 2020  Filed under: Announcement

#StayAtHome is not possible for everyone in times of Covid19. Especially if you are homeless. That’s why we squatted one Airbnb, 9 empty apartments and 2 houses in Berlin and gave them for those who need a safe place.
Solidarity will win!
#besetzen @besetzenberlin

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South Africa: Evictions mark first day of national lockdown

By: sisulscz - March 31st, 2020  Filed under: Announcement

Even as police let loose with rubber bullets and beatings against shoppers yesterday in an effort to enforce the new national Covid-19 lockdown, in Durban they were turfing people into the street.

The eThekwini municipality evicted residents from the Ekuphumeleleni settlement near Shallcross in Ward 17 on Friday when, at 2pm, nine vehicles linked to Calvin Security arrived at the contested site, which was first established as a land occupation in October 2019, to tear down people’s homes. No court order was produced and residents say the evictions were illegal and criminal, as well as being in violation of rules governing the national state of disaster.
[Read More]

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Thessaloniki: Authorities use COVID-19 lockdown to crack down on self-managed Vio.Me factory

By: sisulscz - March 31st, 2020  Filed under: Communique

While the Greek people are placed under quarantine due to the Coronavirus pandemic, the Greek authorities continue their agenda against the social movements in the country. The state has found the perfect timing to conduct its new attack on the self-managed Vio.Me. factory in Thessaloniki: early this morning, accompanied by two squads of riot police, employees of the state-owned electric company have cut off the power to the factory.
[Read More]

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UK: Evictions halted by pandemic

By: sisulscz - March 29th, 2020  Filed under: Communique

Because of the pandemic, eviction court cases and enforcement have been stopped from 27th March to 29th October, possibly to be extended.

Of course landlords and others may try other methods so keep prepared, and let us know.

Reference – 117th Practice Direction Update to the Civil Procedure Rules – Coronavirus Pandemic related

Source – Advisory Service for Squatters