News! A line has definitely been drawn through the 4,000 houses that were to be built on the 2.3 hectares of Krakenburg, at Laan van Kronenburg 12 in Amstelveen.
Despite the extreme housing shortage, the Ministry of Infrastructure thinks that these houses “can be built elsewhere”, and Schiphol gets all the space it needs to continue polluting.
People are now sleeping on the streets, and many are struggling to pay sky-high rents, especially in times of increasing gentrification. We refuse to wait for slow bureaucracy and so-called “solutions” from above.
Therefore, 2 months ago we took the law into our own hands, and instead of more years of no housing, the piece of land is now being actively occupied. With this open space, we want to show that things really can be different. We want to be there for the neighborhood, to share and to show that you can create many things with few resources, and we also want to prove that you can live with nature instead of against it. [Read More]
Amstelveen: Halt to housing construction at Krakenburg
Susa Valley: Passamontagna, camping against the borders
4-5-6 August 2023, travelling NoBorder Camp in Susa Valley, Italy https://squ.at/r/9jj2
Place: Susa Valley – Claviere (ITA) – Briancon (FR)
Three days of traversing the mountains together for a world without borders and authoritarianism!
Three days of encounters, discussions and reflection.
Three days of collective struggle and solidarity.
The Border Machinery
The policies of the European Union and its member states continue to make it deadlier to reach Fortress Europe. Both at sea and in transit countries such as Turkey, Libia and now Tunisia, death is the currency being dealt to those seeking out a better life. The border is enforced internally and externally; having shifted as far south as the Sahel and as far east as Kurdistan.
The Frontex budget is exploding, having risen from €93 Million to €845 million (2023) in just ten years. In the same time frame, the length of EU border fences have grown from 315 km to 2048 km. Novel technologies and intense militarization of the borders have kept arms & technology producers’ profits soaring. Those who manage to reach the shores of Europe are kept in servitude, picking the fruit and vegetables for discounters and slaving away in the factories and brothels. They are promised a shot at climbing the ladder, kept as human capital in the service of the economy with the hopes of achieving the golden ticket; asylum or even residence. [Read More]
UK: From The Inbox. On Queer Housing
Articulating these ideas began as a rant about why building houses in middle-of-nowhere-green-space is fucking stupid. The UK has a privatised, unreliable, unaffordable and inaccessible public transport system and a road network that spits on pedestrians, cyclists and anyone not on four wheels. Its bad for people and for planet, but profiteering companies will build “homes” regardless of the inaccessibility of their locations and the impact they have on the pre-existing environment. They’ll board up and tear down flats in already urbanised areas, tell us there’s not enough homes and get a fat cheque from the state to build some wanky new ones. Their justification for urban sprawl and natures receding tree line is that there aren’t enough homes.
We have spent several long years protesting against new roads and HS2, with some downtime getting particularly angry about housing developments. And it seems we aren’t the only people with fire in our bellies! We are inspired by the resistance Generation Rent has shown landlords throughout the pandemic, by the resilience of fellow squatters, by boaters fighting the CRT’s boat cull, and by folks organising under the Housing Rebellion banner. We are just beginning to have the words to describe how big the housing crisis is, and how our experiences as queers and as squatters can inform the radical solutions we need. [Read More]
London: National Day of Housing, occupations at Southwark and Abbey Wood
On Saturday the 8th of July housing campaigns across the UK engaged in a series of decentralised actions under the slogan “Housing For Need Not Greed”. The actions of the Housing Rebellion, as it was called, were primarily focused around council estates facing the issue of “regeneration” (read: gentrification), but included neighbourhoods fighting their councils for green space, and putting the spotlight on the fact that the struggle for housing is inescapably tied to the issue of climate change.
Some of us, squatters from the local area, took part in the Southwark march that led us through the corpse of the Heygate Estate, now known as the beyond-hip Elephant Park, where we would be surprised to learn if any original resident of the estate has ever returned, or ever plans to. Southwark Notes has some great information on the displacement of residents despite promises of being able to return during initial consultations. 100 people marched, drums banging, voices raised, banners condemning the council and developers alike. Banners that went beyond a simple understanding of the situation of the Heygate or Aylesbury but to condemn a capitalist understanding of property and that hoped to spur into action those who see possibility beyond reform. In conjunction, the offices of Notting Hill Genesis were paintbombed and graffiti expressing righteous anger adorned the hoardings of the ongoing con(de)struction. [Read More]
Amsterdam: Entertainment centre on Jan van Galenstraat squatted
We squatted Jan van Galenstraat 24, to prevent its demolition and to repurpose this building as a place for immediate housing and an autonomous social center.
The people that profit from capitalism enrich themselves in times of disaster. Right now we are in a housing crisis where people are forced to live on the street because the housing market is being used as a tool to exploit people and make private investors richer every day. The municipality and developers left a perfectly fine building empty for 7 years, and now they want to destroy the building to build unaffordable yuppie flats. This new neighborhood they want to build, the Marktkwartier, is going to be unaffordable for most and will drive up prices for the rest of the neighborhood. We are fed up with the municipality’s overly expensive housing plans for the city and want to actively fight against these bullshit gentrification projects that are based on wasting common resources for private profit. We need houses right now and we won’t rely on any government or investor to provide us with the bare minimum. we’re not gonna wait for affordable housing to magically appear. we take what we need, by squatting this building we instantly create a home and a space that benefits the neighborhood instead of tearing it apart. [Read More]
Netherlands: Vogelvrij Newsletter #2
Vogelvrij brings you a bunch of news from squats all around the Netherlands. There is always space for more news in the newsletter, so mail us your updates or publish them on a open publishing platform such as Indymedia.nl, or send your statements to Squat.net, and announce your events on Radar.squat.net. [Read More]
Amsterdam: open call in solidarity with Villa Fuerte hearing
In 2010 the squatting ban was introduced. In theory, this law was created to criminalize squatting whilst fighting against houses being empty. In reality, its purpose was to please some politicians and their questionable neoliberal agenda. We see that there is no political will to fight emptiness, the local governments never put any effort into finding the owners that keep their houses empty. This law has only been used to evict squatters and make them homeless, while still many houses are left empty. In June 2022, another new law has been put into practice. It had as its goal to shorten the time span between the announcement of eviction and the moment of the actual eviction. By doing this they take away the rights of the squatters to legally defend themselves. Now after one year of this law existing in Amsterdam, we feel the repression. We are worried about how the hearings are going and how unjust their practice is. The way squatters are being evicted now is not through a court case but through a criminal hearing. The judge commissioner (RC) is the one to decide if the squatters will be evicted or not. To get all the information for the case, the RC invites the officer of justice who is an investigator cop, her name is Petra van Laeren. There is nobody to witness how these hearings go, it is not a public court case so no media or people interested in the case can be there. We, the squatters in Amsterdam, are starting to see that these hearings are a joke of justice. We figured out that there is a connection between the RC and the officer of justice, showing that they know each other better than just from the court. In the hearings, intimidation is going on, cops are waiting in front of the room to take pictures of the squatters. It is the same people taking the same decisions all the time behind closed doors and the decisions are not publicly posted. It is unfair that we have to blindly go to these hearings under their conditions. To not have an audience, no media, nothing is published. It is a blur of what goes on in these office rooms and how the decisions are being made. Justice is out of balance and we are mad about it. [Read More]
London: The Met shows its true nature…yet again
The Metropolitan Police deployed its riot cops recently in a disturbing show of force. A group of homeless people calling themselves the Autonomous Winter Shelter (AWS) occupied the disused Sisters of Mercy convent in Shadwell, Tower Hamlets, London in November 2022.
The owner sent a complaint to the Met in December. They subsequently carried out an investigation. In April 2023 they sent a letter to the squatters requesting that they leave the building.
They then visited the site on many occasions but were denied entry. Forty people were living at the ex-convent.
On June 1st they showed up in force with a large number of cops in riot gear. 29 people were dragged out of the building, with no time to collect their belongings, whilst others fled when they saw the riot cops. A crowd which gathered in support were threatened with raised batons by the riot thugs. [Read More]
Amsterdam: House squatted on Herengracht 377, Villa Fuerte blijft!
Cops came by during the reveal at Herengracht 377. The cops left but still want to come back for a speed eviction tomorrow. Support needed in coming days! After long hours of waiting in the heat, cops said they have legal grounds to speed-evict, but won’t do it because they didn’t have the capacity today (thanks to the people that showed up for support in front of the door). Neighbors said they didn’t see or heard the squatters these past few days, so police want to speed-evict for catching squatters red-handed, but the squatters showed them proofs that they had been staying for several days already. The cops don’t care and said they can come back anytime for speed eviction in the morning or during the day of the 26th. Stay alert and come when you can! Villa Fuerte needs to stay.
Statement Villa Fuerte
Today on Sunday the 25th of June, we announce that we have squatted this house on Herengracht 377 in Amsterdam. This place is owned by Ella Marina Nicolette Habsburg-Lothringen, member of a royal dynasty, who turned it into a Yoga center for her rich friends and that is now left empty. [Read More]
London: Violent eviction of Autonomous Winter Shelter
Statement from the Autonomous Winter Shelter crew:
Following the violent eviction on 1st June 2023 by the Metropolitan Police, the Autonomous Winter Shelter collective, based in Shadwell, is taking a break from its public-facing activities after an incredibly busy seven months. We are all dealing with the consequences of this eviction differently, and some of us need time to recover both physically and mentally.
We are enormously grateful to everyone who was also a part of the project, supporting and defending it. There will be new, unseen opportunities to continue our work, and at the very least, to support people close to us, who we’ve met along the way. Everybody evicted has already been rehoused or found alternative accommodation. We need to keep showing up for each other when faced with the devastating consequences of inequality and injustice. As long as buildings lie empty and people require shelter, the need for all of us to take autonomy over our living situation will remain. [Read More]
Amsterdam: Squatters Takland occupy adjacent building
Today we have expanded Takland. After we squatted the building at Taksteeg 8 on King’s Day – renamed Housing Day – today it is the turn of the adjacent building Taksteeg 6, which has also been vacant for years. Come and support Takland!
After declaring our independence from the state, they opened the hunt for us. The first time we saw them in court, we won. In doing so, we have ensured that red-handed is once again a means of struggle: the judge forbade eviction in the act if the police do not actually catch the squatter in the act. The second time we saw them in court, they punished us. The judge-commissioner, Eduard Messer, agreed with the owner. The judge and the officer are biased, feel contempt for the people in society hardest hit by the housing crisis, and don’t follow their own rules. Takland should be evicted by Thursday. But Takland is stronger than the state. Takland fights back. [Read More]
Netherlands: what happened in May in some squats
Vogelvrij Newsletter #1
Of course these news are not complete, we just collected the different things we heard about and the information we could find. If there is something you would like to see in our next newsletter or if you notice that we got some information wrong, send us an email! [Read More]
Radar Online Agenda
