Paris: rue du Croissant, re-housing of all occupants within one year

By: fawda - August 26th, 2020  Filed under: Communique, News

The eviction will not take place! Residents will leave the building on Thursday, August 27 from 8:30 am: They will be re-housed in HLM by the City and the Prefecture and accommodated until then.

The 31 homeless households/families who have been occupying 18 rue du Croissant Paris 2e since January 1st 2020, have won their case: a commitment to rehouse all the occupants within a year by the Prefecture and the City of Paris was agreed at the beginning of the week, with DAL and the occupants.

A particularly severe judgment, handed down on July 2nd, ordering the immediate eviction of the occupants, as well as the involvement of the Prefecture of Police in the procedure (it was the former police station of the 2nd arrondissement) raised the imminent risk of eviction.

This is why the occupants and DAL had proposed as early as July 10 to leave the building as soon as possible on the condition that they would be housed until they were re-housed, organized anti-eviction pickets every morning to give the alarm in case, and throughout the summer, called the new government and the regional prefecture. The city of Paris had agreed to house some of the occupants. [Read More]

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Leipzig: Luwi71, the negotiations have broken down.

By: fawda - August 25th, 2020  Filed under: Communique, News

Today the squatters have spoken with the Office for Housing and Urban Renewal. The boss, Mr. Dr.-Ing. Frank Amey, has direct contact to the owner and announced that the owner has cancelled the scheduled negotiations. Speculations of the office suggest that the owner wanted to demolish the house and build a new one. This is not possible because of the law for the protection of the existing building. Now the capital interests of the owner are shifting towards buying or renting by the occupying persons. Kaya, spoke person from Leipzig Besetzen, explained: “We are angry that no talks at eye level are possible. It is therefore difficult for us to take the existing offer of talks with the owner about the office seriously.
Sasha adds: “Should the owner decide to come to Leipzig, he/she knows where we are and where we will stay. During the conversation it emerged that the law enforcement authorities could construct a threat situation. This would result from possibly defective building fabric and the resulting damage to health. [Read More]

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UK: How to Challenge a Section 21 Notice

By: fawda - August 25th, 2020  Filed under: News

Despite the government’s temporary pause on eviction proceedings the system is going to be back soon enough — here’s what you need to know if you’re facing it.

We are likely to see a wave of evictions sweep the country come the end of next month, following the end of a suspension of nearly all court possession cases until (currently) September 20th. Whether or not this will be temporarily extended again, unless substantial legislative changes are instituted, Shelter anticipates that over 230,000 renters are at risk of eviction, in large part due to falling into rent arrears linked to job losses, reductions in income, and shielding during the Covid-19 outbreak. What this means is that it is still vital that renters understand their legal rights and the ways in which they can challenge an eviction notice.

Of greatest notoriety are Section 21 notices, commonly referred to as “no fault” evictions. These only apply to assured shorthold tenancies, which are the most common kind of private rented tenancy. They are the most common kind of eviction in the private rented sector, used for more than 80% of evictions against private tenants. And such notices are a delight to landlords as they do not have to offer a reason for evicting their tenant — no matter if you paid the bills on time, fixed up the plug sockets, bought the landlord a bouquet of flowers for Christmas (gross, don’t do this) — despite all the good behaviour in the world, a Section 21 eviction notice can still arrive at your door. [Read More]

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UK: Notes for New Squatters

By: fawda - August 24th, 2020  Filed under: News

The government’s U-turn on evictions is merely a temporary reprieve — and today Freedom is publishing this newly updated Advisory Service for Squatters guide, which will only get more relevant as the year wears on.

Squatting means occupying empty buildings, or land, without permission. Normally, it means homeless people finding somewhere to live, for a while at least, but what people do with the space they occupy is up to them. The following is a very basic guide. For more information or if you have any problems contact the Advisory Service for Squatters (ASS).

Non-residential squatting is still legal

Squatting in non-residential buildings, or where there has been an agreement, is still a civil matter. To resolve it the owner has to take you to court. The owners have legal ways and procedures to have squatters evicted and cannot legally use force or threats. Section 6 of the Criminal Law Act 1977 makes it an offence to force entry to a building which is occupied, and this includes squats. This will no longer help against the police if they are enforcing the new law against squatters in residential properties, but is otherwise still valid. This is explained in the Legal Warnings, which squatters have either on display or ready to show people. [Read More]

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Leipzig: Ludwigstraße 71 squatted

By: fawda - August 22nd, 2020  Filed under: Communique, News

Press release – occupation Ludwigstraße 71, August 22nd 2020

The occupation of Ludwigstraße 71 has survived the first night. Activists are still staying in the apartment building. According to the LVZ the owner should come to Leipzig on Wednesday and be ready to talk to the activists. Until then the house is under police observation.

“We would be pleased if the owner would also contact us directly”, says Kaya from Leipzig Besetzen. Since the beginning of the occupation, the group emphasized its willingness to conduct negotiations on an equal basis and presented a utilization concept.

“We expect restraint from the police,” agrees Sasha, also from Leipzig Besetzen. The day before, there had been an increased police presence in the neighboring streets. In the meantime, police officers tried to gain access to the building from Mariannenstraße. To do this, the police blocked the front doors of adjacent residential buildings when residents left them. Additionally there were harassment of passers-by by police officers. [Read More]

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Thessaloniki: Political statement of the squat Terra Incognita. International call for solidarity

By: fawda - August 21st, 2020  Filed under: Communique, News

In the morning of 17th of August Terra Incognita gets TEMPORARILY evicted by the repressive forces of neoliberalism. Police forces intrude in the building and conduct researches for hours and confiscations. Days after the eviction the squat still remains open with cops celebrating TEMPORARILY their capability of violating every corner of our liberalized grounds.

For over 16 years Terra Incognita consituted a meeting place for hundrends of people of the struggling social basis. With constant events, direct acts, demonstrations and conflicts Terra Incognita was present in moments of the violent struggle against the violence of the state, the benefits of capitalistic monopolies, against the violating authority of fascism and patriarchy, against any type of discrimination and speciesism. In the grounds of the self-organised structures of self-education, solidarity and mutual aid of the squat all the “known-unknown” strugglers of freedom met and will continue to meet. Liberating and equallity-based relationships were constructed, subversive plans and operations, dreams that day by day found and still find a space of moral and physical substance. For 16 years the squat proves itself to be the flesh of the flesh of the multiform struggle against any type of authority and opression, without prioritizing or distinguishing the means that contribute to the spreading of libertarian ideas and the organization of social and class-conscious counter attack. Because for us this is liberation. [Read More]

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Thessaloniki: Terra Incognita evicted

By: fawda - August 18th, 2020  Filed under: Communique, News

This morning (17 August), around 5 am, the uniformed scum of the greek police invaded Terra Incognita in Thessaloniki, which is a building that has been occupied since 2004 and constitutes a landmark of struggle and the anarchist movement in the city.

The cops proceeded to evacuate the building, while technical and material equipment was confiscated and a large part of the resources within the building have been withheld.

More specifically, equipment from the following anarchist infrastructures housed within the squat, was confiscated: the medical -first aid infrastructure, the gym, the library and the printing infrastructure, as well as a large archive of posters and other printed material that date decades. [Read More]

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Calais: associations refer cases to the Human Rights Defender and UN rapporteurs on the situation of migrants

By: fawda - August 15th, 2020  Filed under: News

Today took place in Calais the 693rd eviction from an informal living space since 1 January 2020. As of 13 August 2020, the fundamental rights of the exiled people surviving in Calais are still not respected (Human Rights Observers).

Thirteen associations working with migrants in Calais announced on Friday that they had contacted the Human Rights Defender, as well as seven United Nations special rapporteurs on human rights, to “alert them to the inhuman living conditions” of refugees.

In Calais, the evictions of camps are continuing and police repression of migrants has increased since the arrival of Gérald Darmanin at the Ministry of the Interior, according to human rights groups present in the area.

In an attempt to make their voices heard, thirteen of them – including the Auberge des Migrants, Médecins du Monde and Secours Catholique – seized on Friday 14 August the Human Rights Defender Claire Hédon, whose mandate has just begun, as well as seven United Nations special rapporteurs on human rights. [Read More]

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Saint-Denis: Two weeks after the eviction from Aubervilliers camp, hundreds of migrants return home

By: fawda - August 15th, 2020  Filed under: News

Between 300 and 400 migrants live under the bridge of the A1 motorway in Saint-Denis in totally undignified conditions, only fifteen days after the eviction from the Aubervilliers camp. The associations denounce an absurd situation where evictions and resettlements follow one another without any lasting solution.

At the time of the eviction from the Aubervilliers camp on 29 July, Pierre Henry, the director general of France Terre d’Asile, had said to himself “See you in September”, certain that the camp would be re-formed in a few weeks.

We didn’t have to wait that long. Less than a fortnight after the eviction of the 1,500 or so people living in the camp, “between 300 and 400” people found refuge under the A1 motorway bridge at Saint-Denis. They are single men, mostly from Afghanistan.

Among them, some “missed the eviction of Aubervilliers, others had an administrative appointment that day and could not be present”, says Maël, a member of the association Utopia 56 who did not want his surname to be made public. Among these hundreds of exiles, there are also newcomers who only found this unhealthy place to settle. [Read More]

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Belo Horizonte (Brazil): For Squat Kasa Invisível, keep your support, we’re almost there!

By: xxx - August 15th, 2020  Filed under: News, video

First of all, we want to thank every one, every collective, union, and groups supporting us! We already reached almost 2,000 dolars to fix the entire roof of our squat. Keep sharing the message to those which are in a position to help us keep our work and our house! Stay safe and healthy!

Video Campaign:

[Read More]

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Czech Republic: What Bublina is and what it is not

By: fawda - August 13th, 2020  Filed under: News

Bublina is a squat, located on the planet Earth, somewhere on the road between the cities of Aš and Břeclav. These buildings with a yard have been unused by the owner and inhabited by many different people with many various motivations over the years. Some of them left, others have been expelled by the police. Since August 2019, the squat has been occupied by first member of a newly emerging group of residents and supporters, and has been re-named “Bublina” (The Bubble).

This first resident has been dealing with housing crisis and lack of space to thrive for quite some time. After a few months, two more people joined who has been on streets since their employer deprived them of financial resources. They moved right before outbreak of covid-19 pandemic, which allowed them to self- isolate in quarantine here and survive without health risks. Both of them are elderly, so their health could have been compromised otherwise. These elderly men and middle-aged anarchist soon became accustomed to living together. It is not ideology nor generational struggle which made them cooperate, but their willingness to solve their material conditions and fulfill their other needs by squatting. Their situation is quite different to those, often coming from middle-class, who squat for idealistic reasons and squatting is just another adventure for them. Residents of Bublina simple do not have resources to buy or rent flats and squatting is the only way out. A solution beyond the legal and mainstream norms, nevertheless legitimate and effective. If it wasn’t for activities of these residents, there would only be wreck of a building on the spot now, with owner who would not take care of it. Squatters take good care of this house and yard. It is their home now, after all. [Read More]

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Montpellier: Families evicted, buildings occupied!

By: fawda - August 8th, 2020  Filed under: News

On July 10 2020, in front of associations, collectives, squatters and unions, while the préfet was reassuring about the squats situation during the summer, and was only talking about the “problematic” situation of the former Institut Bouisson Bertrand, he was actually preparing evictions for the 23rd. Evictions that affected two buildings in the city centre, putting around 50 vulnerable people and families on the street, and others in detention in CRA. The generous solution provided: 3 nights in a hotel and a return to the violence of the tent in the street.

Knowing the CV of the current préfet of the Hérault, Jacques Witkowski, we had not believed in his promise of the 10th, and therefore decided to squat this building owned by the council which had remained empty and walled up for too long, since 15 July, in order to rehouse the people that Jacques put outside during the heat wave, and during the biggest health crisis we have experienced since the beginning of the century, thus directly endangering the people concerned and the population of Montpellier. [Read More]

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