Calais: Emergency situation, all squats and camps will be evicted in the next few days!

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On May 27th, the three main camps of Calais will be destroyed by the police. More than 600 people live in these camps, which were won through constant migrant struggle after a long series of evictions. No solution has been proposed for the evicted migrants. Moreover, a social center and two further squats are up for eviction starting on May 30th. All told, more than 800 people will be put on to the street.

In this stopping point on the way to England, squatting is the only housing solution that exists. It is also a tool of resistance for migrants to protect themselves from violence and police harassment in the camps and in the city. Today, the mayor of Calais’s fight against squatting has reached a new low. This time she has proposed a law which would change the 48 hour period in which squats must be evicted (which is not officially set down in French law). We know very little about the content of this law, only that it will attack the right to housing for all. The entire future of squatting in France is endangered by this law. [Read More]

Amsterdam: Court Case VluchtMarkt, Ten Katestraat 49

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‘We Are Here’ protest in court

Today, May 21st, the owner of Ten Katestraat 49 brought the ‘We are here‘ group to court. The company, Batavia B.V, intends to rent the property to another company, W.M. Honselaar Onroerend Goed B.V.. Their plan is to build yet another hotel, that will ‘contribute’ to the massive gentrification project that is taking place in the Kinkerbuurt. The hotel will be a ‘special concept’, so called ‘City Hub’, where tourists can drop their luggage and their dead bodies after one night party.

The space is currently used by undocumented migrants both for housing and as a social, cultural and political centre, where different groups of people can encounter and mobilise for further political action. Undocumented migrants are criminalised everywhere, in each space of European society. Thus opening a social and political centre was a step further in our struggle, as what is needed is not only a roof for surviving, not only basic human rights, but also the possibility of living a decent life, wich includes the possiblity of socialisation, communication, and recreation. [Read More]

Squatting in England: Heritage & Prospects

Over the past few years, there has been a push to criminalize squatting across Western Europe. But in a time of increasing economic instability, can governments succeed in suppressing squatting? What is at stake here?

This article reviews the background and contemporary context of squatting in England, beginning after the Second World War and comparing the current movement to its counterparts on mainland Europe. It touches on many stories: migrants squatting to build a life safe from fascist attacks, gay activists finding spaces in which to build up a scene, vibrant and insurgent squatted areas, single-issue campaigns occupying as a direct action tactic, and anti-capitalist groups setting up social centers. We hope this text will help those in present-day struggles to root themselves in the heritage of previous movements. [Read More]

Update on Situation in Calais

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The mayor of Calais, Natach Bouchart has decided on the evictions of the two main camps, known as the Syria Camp and Eritrea Camp. Despite these names, these camps are home to members of many different communities. There are over 300 people in the Syrian Camp in front of Salam, and the Eritrean camp has also undergone a massive influx recently, potentially doubling the number of inhabitants in the last weeks. Migrants of all the communities know about the eviction threat.

The three No Borders squats, opened at the end of February, are also facing eviction at the end of May. These three squats are also providing homes for many people, especially since the eviction of the Sudanese Jungle in mid April. The loss of these buildings will only add to the number of people sleeping in the already overcrowded camps. [Read More]

Seattle (USA): Condo Excavator Sabotaged

About a little over week ago we snuck into a condo development in Seattle and poured a gallon of bleach into the gas tank of an excavator. This was a small but easily reproducible attack against the expansion of gentrification in Seattle. [Read More]

Dublin: Housing Action, Past, Present and Future

Over the years, Dublin’s working class has organised to fight landlords, developers and politicians in search of decent housing and well-being for all. This panel at the 9th Dublin anarchist bookfair considered how some of these earlier campaigns and direct actions can inform today’s struggles.

Trade union activist Mick O’Reilly remembered the Dublin Housing Action Committee of the early 1970s.

Longtime trade union activist and anarchist Alan MacSimoin recalled the Dublin Squatters Association of the mid-1970s.

Community activist John Bissett discusseed confronting public-private partnerships before and after the property crash.

Conor Murphy, an activist and squatter from the North Inner City talked about current attempts to turn Dublin’s empty buildings into decent living spaces.

Dublin Housing Action: Past, Present and Future – Anarchist bookfair 2014 audio [Read More]

Calais: Squat Evictions Planned for May 30th

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We are a group of people from different countries and different political backgrounds who are fighting for the right to housing for everyone , whatever their origin. Since the end of February we have held three empty public buildings, abandoned by the DPO of Calais on Rue de Vic, Rue Auber and Rue Massena. Although there are no plans for these houses, the DPO has engaged in legal proceedings and the court has ruled that the buildings are to be vacated on 30th May

Since the end of February, in the three squats, lives have been created and many links with neighbors have been built. These are temporary places, but necessary. Solidarity and housing are crucial for survival in daily life.

We demand that the sub-prefect do not send the police or intervene on May 30 or the following days, to forcefully evict these three occupied buildings. [Read More]

Oakland: “Sketch Pad” Squat Eviction

A west Oakland squat known as “Sketch Pad” was evicted Tuesday by sheriffs.

Haarlem (Netherlands): Antillenweg squatted and evicted

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HAARLEM – On the 11th of May Kraapgroep Haarlem occupied multiple buildings on the c in Schalkwijk. It involves nine consecutive appartments on the Belcanto site.

Squatting
On the 11th of May Kraapgroep Haarlem occupied multiple buildings on the Antillenweg in Schalkwijk. It involves nine consecutive appartments on the Belcanto site. All homes are empty for some time awaiting demolition and redevelopment. The Belcanto project has been shut down indefinitely by the housing associations Elan, Pre living and Ymere in April 2013 because they do not have sufficient liquidity to fund the project. Due to the crisis [Read More]

15th May – International Day Against the World Cup

International Day Against the World Cup

cartaz-15m_web-1-inglesWhich is and will be the legacy of the 2014 soccer world cup?

8 deaths during the renovation of / in the soccer arenas of the world cup and 3 deaths in arenas which follow the same standards;
250.000 people forcefully removed from their homes;
Street vendors and independent artists who are forbidden to work;

Women, children and adolescents who suffer from sexual exploitation;
Homeless people who suffer violence and ”hygienization” (are expelled from the downtown area);
Private corporations taking care of public space and streets;
Elitization of the soccer stadiums;
Billions invested in armament of the police to use against the people;
Laws declaring state of emergency and criminalizing demonstrations;
And an immense and questionable public debt the people will have to pay. [Read More]

Amsterdam: The Rise and Death of the Just City of Amsterdam

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The Story of Op de Valreep, A Squatted Social Centre in Amsterdam Oost

Urban planning was once – perhaps at its best, defined by Patsy Healey as “managing our coexistence in shared spaces.” Planning for co-existence first and foremost requires recognition of differences and antagonisms in the city. Different publics have different interests as well as different amounts of power in society and decision-making processes. The state apparatus, operating within a context of power and inequality, thus adopts persuasive, co-optative, and sometimes repressive measures to respond to all these different vectors of pressure.
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European Info Tour Against the 2014 World Cup in Brazil

An European Info-tour Against the 2014 World Cup in Brazil began at the 24th May. The meaning of this Info-tour is to present the situation in this country, to explain the social conflicts and to support the riots. This tour is also in benefit to the “Anarchist Black Cross” Rio Janeiro, because the experiences from the last riots in Brazil and the application of the Special Security Laws during the coming World Cup shows that the level of repression will be very high.

The Info-tour already passed by France, Belgium, Germany and Czech Republic. This week we’re gonna pass by Poland. Then, we’re gonna have other dates in Germany, Switzerland and France. You can check the next tour dates on the article:

[Read More]