Berlin: Updated 3/7: Fight against eviction of squatted refugee school

Note: This page will be continually updated as events unfold.

The school is now in its 10th day of resistance! Scroll down to the bottom for latest news.

Latest updates on twitter and ticker

From Contra Info:

Tuesday, June 24th, 2014, at midday — the squatted school at Ohlauer Street is being evicted right now. On-site support is still needed; at 7pm, there will be a spontaneous demonstration starting from Kottbusser Tor, Berlin.

At 10am, menacing looking undercover cops entered the schoolyard. Later on, 900 cops surrounded the school. The district authorities had lied to the refugees, promising not to evict the building itself. District and church people try to create a rift between the refugees, as well as to force them to move out of the school under the threat of a martial police force. Some refugees and families have left the school, but many more are still inside and refuse to go out. Some of them stand on the roof shouting slogans; petrol was spilled inside the house; cops evicted a sit-in at the entrance door; several hundred people are protesting in front of police barriers. Refugees are threatening to jump from the roof if they are evacuated. Roma families moved out when they were promised that there will be new accommodation for them, but now they stand on the street. So the situation is tense, and the livelihood of many people is threatened. The district administration, the Green Party of Kreuzberg and the Senate of Berlin are held accountable for this situation.

At 7pm there will be a spontaneous demonstration at Kottbusser Tor. It is possible that by that time the eviction will still be underway, so the demo will end in front of the refugee school. Come to Kreuzberg! Show your solidarity!

Raw updates from anti-eviction demo in Kreuzberg:

At around 20:00, comrades report that the cops have attacked the demo against the eviction of the squatted school at Ohlauer Street, storming against people from all sides since the very beginning. The protesters are several hundred (nearly 500). Cops are present in masses in all of the area (Kreuzberg). Comrades are trying to verify if the violent eviction has already started and what the situation of resisting refugees inside the building is. It is highly possible that there are detentions of protesters, since the police attack was brutal.

Shorty afterwards, cops kettle a big part of the demonstrators at Kottbusser Tor. There is no way to see what kind of operation they are launching against the refugee school because they have blocked all nearby streets.

At about 21:25, the bloc of demonstrators that was kettled at Kottbusser Tor finally managed to march. Nevertheless the cops are in large numbers and have taken full control of the area. A small group of people attempted a sit-in on Wiener Street in order to block the bus that was carrying some of the evicted migrants (it is not yet clear if there are still people resisting in the building) but the sit-in was quickly dispersed by police units. People are running up and down trying to avoid getting busted. A group of around 200 demonstrators is gathered outside the Tempest Library (with ghetto blasters from the refugees playing music, and continuously shouting slogans).

At around 21:40 scuffles and small-scale clashes occurred at the corner of Ohlauer Street with Wiener Street. People managed to break the line of metal barriers placed by cops. Police are using light-blaster against the crowd. Amid unrest, with people running back and forth to avoid the blinding light and regroup however they could… a cop’s helmet went flying.

It seems the night will be long. But cops are also prepared for this. There is a need to support people on the streets with food and water.

Fuck the mass media, fuck the social media. Support counter-information.

Solidarity is our weapon!

Video of the eviction and demo available on YouTube here.

According to @15Mbcn_int on twitter, the remaining refugees resisting eviction on the roof have set up an improvised media center.

Update: At 10:00 there will be a press conference of the refugees still on the roof, who have made it through the night without police action.

Update 25/6: Following the brief occupation of the German embassy in Brussels, Supporters occupied the offices of Kreuzberg’s district mayor.

As of 18:10, refugees still occupy the roof. Calls have been made for a spontaneous demo starting at 19:00, from Oranienplatz in Kruezberg.

20:59 Update: Around 500 people joined a spontaneous demo in support of the occupied refugee school in Kreuzberg.

There was also a solidarity demo in Hamburg (left), made up of about 60 supporters, as well as in Hannover (right.)

Another call has been made for a spontaneous demo in Berlin at 22:30 tonight. From Contra Info:

Solidarity with the squatters of Ohlauer Street’s school and all other refugees! Come all to Kottbusser Tor in Kreuzberg, and bring many banners and fliers with you! Let’s show the Berlin Senate, the District and the Green Party what solidarity means and what we think of their relocation measures. The aim of the spontaneous demo is to reach the school, either indirectly or directly…

No nation, no border, fight law and order!

No border, no nation, fight deportation!