On Wednesday, August 27, the mobilization paid off! The police and the bailiff were unable to pass the tight ranks of people present in front of the building at Square de l’Aviation in Anderlecht. Thank you and congratulations to all. It’s a victory in a long battle for dignity and housing: we remain mobilized for the future. The day before, the mayor had refused to take part in preventing this eviction on the pretext that a complaint had been filed by the owner for non-execution of police orders, even though the hearing has been postponed to November 3 and there has therefore been no judgment.
Nordin Amrabat involved in eviction of 70 people in Brussels
Collective Zone Neutre, a collective of 70 people in Brussels, has been threatened with another eviction on August 27. The Dutch owners of the building refuse to enter into talks with the collective to reach an agreement. Brussels is therefore reaching out to the Netherlands for international solidarity to put pressure on the footballer Nordin Amrabat, the business partner of the company FMM Holding BV.
Collective Zone Neutre, a collective of 70 people in Brussels, has again been threatened with eviction. The collective has been fighting for more than five years for regularization, freedom of movement and dignity for all. Since March, they have been occupying a building of FMM Holding BV, a Dutch company, on the Luchtvaartplein. Last Tuesday, the collective organized a large anti-eviction festival in front of the building, but they were not given time to catch their breath. Next Wednesday, August 27, they will be threatened with another eviction. The owners of the building refuse to enter into discussions with the collective to reach an agreement. Brussels is therefore reaching out to the Netherlands for international solidarity to put pressure on the footballer Nordin Amrabat, the company’s business partner.
In the article below we give a report of the past events. What can you do?
Share this message, write Nordin Amrabat a personal message (copy the following message), come to Brussels on August 27 to show numbers at the door.
Anti-eviction festival. A look back and ahead
Last Tuesday (August 19), Zone Neutre organized a festival of resistance to draw attention to the imminent eviction of a collective of 70 undocumented people.
Next week, the collective is in danger of being evicted again, on Wednesday 27 August in the early morning. A day before, on Tuesday 26 August, the appeal trial will take place before the justice of the peace. On the other side of the benches of the court of Anderlecht is “Staring Real Estate”, owner of the building squatted by Zone Neutre since March on the Square de l’Aviation. In the Netherlands, the mother company of “Staring Real Estate” has entered into a partnership with Moroccan international Nordin Amrabat to do business in real estate… On the square, the residents of the Neutre Zone send him a message: “Nordin Amrabat, give us the ball, red card for the eviction”.
With joy and group activities in the neighborhood as a weapon, the Zone Neutre collective has managed to fend off a new eviction order. No bailiff on Tuesday morning, August 19, but a football tournament, a militant flea market, a free meal for everyone who passed by the square that afternoon, and concerts in the afternoon. A wave of solidarity and dignity for all: undocumented people, residents of nearby Samu social, passers-by… Yet stress and anxiety remain strongly present within the collective. The reason? A new eviction order has already been stuck to the doors of Zone Neutre. The new date is Wednesday morning, August 27, next week. The day before, the collective and their lawyers will try to obtain justice. The eviction order is based on a unilateral and illegal procedure.
Since March, the beginning of the occupation of Zone Neutre on the Square de l’Aviation, the collective has been constantly organizing activities on this square, occupying and creating life on it. A square where the “users” are so often despised, stigmatised and dehumanised can offer something that few can do: a little dignity, humanity and recognition. Yet since March, from the beginning of the occupation of Zone Neutre, the threats and attempts at eviction seem to never stop. This summer they are even increasing! Why? The building on the corner of the Square de l’Aviation and the boulevard Poincaré does not have a concrete project for the time being, if an eviction goes ahead, the building and the square will be empty again. “Staring Real Estate”, the owner of the building, would like to turn it into a hotel… But obtaining a permit takes years, that is known to everyone.
“Staring Real Estate” is a subsidiary of another real estate company in the Netherlands, “FMM Holding BV”. Across the border, “FMM Holding BV” does business, buys, renovates and sells buildings, together with a certain Nordin Amrabat. N. Amrabat is a well-known Moroccan international, who participated in the 2018 World Cup with the Morocco national team, and was one of the best players there, which made the whole country proud. This summer he played with the shirt of Wydad Casablanca at the Club World Cup.
Nordin Amrabat, the residents of Zone Neutre followed your matches this summer with great attention and passion. With the Wydad shirt on the shoulders, they supported you against Manchester City and Juventus. On Tuesday, August 19, the Atlético Zone Neutre team shared the cup with another team of an occupation of undocumented people, who came to play football on the square. It was the World Cup of the anti-eviction festival (1st edition), a breath of fresh air, a moment out of time. Nordin Amrabat, the 70 undocumented people of Zone Neutre ask for your support, that you now support them. “Staring Real Estate”, a subsidiary of “FMM Holding BV”, with whom you sometimes do business, threatens to put them on the street, without rehousing, and this while negotiations had started to set up a healthy and reasonable framework for the occupation.
A phone call doesn’t cost much. A small gesture for a nice decisive pass, as they say… We hope to be able to share a common goal, create bonds, work together for community. You build mosques in the Netherlands, in your hometown, Zone Neutre organizes community activities for the forgotten people of Brussels. We read in an interview that you wanted to “give something back to society”. The Neutre zone asks nothing more of “Staring Real Estate” than the reasonable possibility of occupying the building as long as it is vacant. And to continue organizing football tournaments on the square. For the next edition, you could maybe even give assists in person?
As far as housing is concerned, Zone Neutre has not been asking for anything unreasonable since March: a temporary occupation convention as long as the building is empty. Guarantee dignity for the undocumented people of the collective and continue to dribble around the ball in the square. The struggle of the collective never gives up to fight for the regularization of undocumented people, freedom of movement, dignity and justice for all.
Zone Neutre collective
Square de l’Aviation 3, Anderlecht
https://radar.squat.net/en/collectif-zone-neutre
Some groups linked to migrants https://radar.squat.net/en/groups/topic/sans-papiers
Some squats in Brussels https://radar.squat.net/en/groups/city/bruxelles/country/BE/squated/squat
Some squats in Belgium https://radar.squat.net/en/groups/country/BE/squated/squat
Groups (social center, collective, squat) in Belgium https://radar.squat.net/en/groups/country/BE
Events in Belgium https://radar.squat.net/en/events/country/BE
