Lille, France: Paint attacks against gentrification and evictions

On the night of 23th-24th [March] we attacked suddenly with paint the front of the Mayor’s office, the gendarmerie [military police], the formerly occupied Mangouste and the house of hip-hop. We chose these targets to oppose the ‘regeneration’ of poor neighbourhoods and the city policy that evicts the poor, to make these neighbourhoods more profitable for developers.

Le Chti d’Arras, a former event space for several years and of illegally occupied existence (in particular where concerts and other hip-hop events took place) saw itself evicted and replaced by “the house of hip-hop” or “European Centre for Urban Culture”. A good way for the Mayor to recuperate what was already being done without her, to relieve her of all that was subversively done there, and to instead make a commercial-cultural product. [Read More]

Calais: The womens house is evicted, mass evictions due to start this week – callout from No Borders

The evictions have already started. Eviction is not just the moment when the police come to the jungles and squats and kick people out through a physical confrontation, but it begins way before. The women’s house Victor Hugo is a good example of this. The eviction on the 25th of March happened in a subtle way. The women and children living within Victor Hugo did not want to leave, but instead have been forced to move to the Jules Ferry Day Centre. They were evicted under the threat of violence. This imposed and non consensual arrangement has happened without considering the wishes, opinions, needs or safety of the women living in the Victor Hugo house. The media have supported this by talking about the eviction in terms of “moving out”, therefore this violence has been ignored and made invisible. This forced relocation is an example of how the state controls movement and physical bodies and how it perpetuates and reproduces violence against women. [Read More]

Helsinki, Finland: Eviction report of Mummola squat and the solidarity demonstration that followed

Delayed report:

In the beginning of March, the squat Mummola, in the east of Helsinki, was threatened with eviction. In the morning of Tuesday 3rd March, the cops and the Mayor’s lackeys of Helsinki tried to evict the squat, in vain. The support of many people on site prevented the authorities to achieve their aims.

In the morning of Wednesday 4th March, the Major’s lackeys came with a type of crane to cut the electricity to the squat. In the early afternoon, the cops arrived to help the Mayor’s lackeys to do their dirty work. [Read More]

Barcelona/Granada/Madrid/Palencia: Police Piñata raids

This morning in Operation Piñata (following Pandora in December) cops have raided social centres and arrested people (at least 26) in Barcelona, Madrid, Palencia and Granada.

La 13-14 in Madrid announced it was being raided this morning.
[Read More]

Netherlands: Amsterdam Squatters Gathering, 8 April

20150408_Amsterdam_Squatters_GatheringWednseday 8 April 2015, 20.00

We’re calling out to all squatters in Amsterdam (and beyond) for a city-wide gathering to socialize and discuss the current squatting situation in Amsterdam and have a drink afterwards.
A few things that we could have a chat about are: mobilization, alarms, spokespersons, evictions, legal aid…If you have something that you’d like to bring up or present, please write us at asg15 [at] riseup [dot] net and we will add it to the agenda. Afterwards drinks will be poured.

Kraken gaat door!

Location: De OverVal, Prins Hendrikkade 138/139, 1011 AS Amsterdam [Read More]

Yorkley Court (UK): Update

Some bailiffs arrived this morning [March 26] as promised.. they hung around a bit and then trundled around the edge of the part of the farm we are occupying, accompanied by police and trailed by some of our fantastic team of legal observers. They were unable to gain access anywhere, presumably got a bit bored and eventually left.
[Read More]

London: Sweets Way calls for support against evictions

Barnet Housing Action Group are a group campaigning around housing issues in The Borough of Barnet, North London. We have been working with the Our West Hendon campaign for the past year and have recently joined the Focus E15 Mums in occupying a house on the Sweets Way Estate in the North of the borough in protest against the evictions which have taken place there by Annington Homes Ltd, the owners of the houses and land.

West Hendon is a council estate alongside a reservoir and conservation area known as ‘the Welsh Harp’. The estate comprises of a mix of 650 properties some secure tenancies, some private, some temporary non-secure tenants and also leaseholders. All of these homes are going to be bulldozed and replaced with 2000 luxury apartments – 214 of which – the non luxury of course – will be council flats.
[Read More]

Dublin: Update about Grangegorman eviction resistance

Yesterday (Friday 27th of March) we had court again, this time the judge had made a decision. He said the Injunction was successful, but he would delay it until May 4th.
This means they will not try to evict us until then, but after that they will try to evict us.

We are hoping that the time we’ve been given will allow people to travel to help us, and for us to raise support and prepare ourselves.
We’re expecting quite a heavy eviction so we’re preparing ourselves for that, and the more help we get the better chance we have of winning! [Read More]

Kaunas: East Central European squatters and radicals gathering

Kaunas Karnival – 05.01-04 Kaunas, Lithuania. Street actions, raves, workshops, discussions

Kaunas Karnival is a not-quite-party-but-not-really-conference-either gathering. Squatters, political activists and all the other good radical people from Eastern Europe (and further) are invited to come to a four days street action, skill-sharing and network building event. The main aim of the gathering is to exchange knowledge between collectives from EastCentral Europe about radical actions, such as squatting and organizing movements and establish a basis for future cooperation. The program of Kaunas Karnival will take place in Kaunas, Lithuania, between the 1st and 4th of this May. [Read More]

Dublin: Grangegoman Eviction, report from after baliffs chased off

Interview with a Grangegorman resident shortly after their successful resistance to the attempt to evict them yesterday. Details what happened from when the bailiffs started attacking the defenders with poles, knocked them off the gate and then drove a van into them.
This level of escalation turned out to be too much even for the Garda who finally intervened to bring the non court mandated eviction to a halt. A deal was negotiated by which all the bailiffs, their vehicles and the construction workers would leave the site.
The resident also talks about how uplifting all the solidarity they received from other people living in the area was, which even included small businesses and social justice organisations that help the homeless.

Amsterdam: Updates Arrestees Spuistraat eviction

In this topic we will post updates on the people that were arrested in the Spuistraat eviction

On the 25th of March the Tabaksbanden in the Spuistraat got evicted. 16 People were arrested. As far as we know, they all got charged with public violence and/or breaking public order. All arrestees are in Zuid-Oost.

This morning 2 people were released. Updates on the rest of the arrestees will follow soon.

Arrestantengroep Amsterdam
Tel: 06-42413496
info @ arrestantengroep.org

Italy: The housing struggle and even beyond

casa_reddito_dignitWe translated our editorial from almost two months ago, which was written soon after a first, successful “March of the  Peripheries”, a day in which people from working-class and suburban neighbourhoods rose along housing rights militants  and activists to tackle the gruesome Lupi housing plan, preventing people living in housing occupations and squats from  accessing basic services and citizenship rights.

As the Lupi minister himself was forced to resign after his associate Ettore Incalza – a longtime state manager which did supervise great unnecessary works’ projects such as the TAV high-speed railway – was prosecuted for corruption, a second march of dignity approaches in Bologna and other initiatives are developing in other cities, to reaffirm the people dignity against the neoliberal austerity and the individualist dogma of the Renzi government.

The struggle for housing rights gave an important message on January 31. A real mobilization that featured thousands of people taking the streets all over the country. It was able to address the social composition that lives in the housing occupations as well as those many characters – both involved in the politics of housing and in the more general and inclusive debate on the city and its criticism – that ended up at its side in the streets and in the squares. [Read More]