Another illegal eviction in Calais

After Natasha Bouchart, Senator-Mayor of Calais, presented her new anti-squatting law in the senate last week, the illegal evictions continue in Calais.

A new house was opened in Calais on the weekend of May 31st to 1st June. After a week of going unnoticed (to avoid possible eviction without a trial in the first 48 hour), the occupation was made public on Sunday, June 8 (despite some confusing information announcing it as “the next opening” published on the website of La Voix du Nord on Saturday, June 7th ), and the first contact was made with passersby, neighbors and the bar newsagent opposite. Some of them considered the occupation of this house, which has been empty for three years, totally legitimate. Another house on the street about fifty yards away is already squatted. [Read More]

Athens: Shots Fired at K*VOX Squat

In the early hours of Tuesday, June 3rd, at about 02:30, unknown people fired at least 5 shots at the main entrance of the squatted social centre K*VOX. Two of the bullets pierced the outer metal blinds, shattering the glass front entrance door. [see photo] Luckily, at the time, no comrade was inside the squat.

Lately, the K*VOX —along with residents, collectives and fighters from the neighbourhood— has taken a series of initiatives to act against the mafia gangs and the drug trade in Exarchia, which is carried out with the police’s tolerance and cover-up.
[Read More]

UK: Why #ACAB? One person’s experience of Political Policing

Given all the media attention on Police malpractice recently, and the constant, repetitive wheeling out of the “few bad apples” analogy, it seemed timely to explain why Anticapitalists hate the Police so much. Rather than present some dry, academic thesis full of depressing facts and figures (there are plenty of those about at the moment!) we have decided to simply post one local Anticapitalist’s experience of dealing with the Police as a “Political Activist” and homeless person.
[Read More]

Berlin: Squatting memories

When, for a short time at the beginning of the nineties, the underground was in charge of East Berlin’s centre, activist and photographer Ben de Biel was there: at Kunsthaus Tacheles, at I.M. Eimer, and as the founder of MARIA Club. Today, de Biel has moved on from organizing events and now works as the press relations officer for the Piraten Partei. In this monologue, part of a series of artists and other key cultural figures speaking openly about their artistic experience in the city, de Biel told us about his own Berlin experiment.
[Read More]

East London: Illegal eviction

On Monday June 2nd, at around 6pm, a squatted building in on New North Road, East London was illegally evicted by security, bailiffs and police, resulting in a thirteen hour stand-off. The building, an old car wash, is completely abandoned and going to be demolished. It is owned by Royal Mail and due to be the site of a new post office, since the old one nearby is being closed down to build luxury flats.
[Read More]

Den Haag: Council wants to evict and demolish the Vloek

On May 30th, De Vloek (Pirate Bar) received a letter from the city of the Hague indicating that there are construction plans for their location. The city wants to demolish the building and sell the land to a developer who wants to build a top sailing center.
[Read More]

Ankara (Turkey): New squat

Anarchists have occupied a house in Ankara, Turkey. It is thought to be the first political squat in the city. It is called Atopya.

Twitter

More news in Turkish:
http://sosyalsavas.org/2014/05/atopya-ankara-da-isgal-evi/

Barcelona: Can Vies re-occupied! Rebuilding Begins!

The morning demo on Day 6 was a huge success. After 5 nights of rioting Barcelona Council had declared the ‘demolition of Can Vies suspended’.

In reality the protestors had already stopped demolition work by burning the machinery on day 2. However when we arrived on Saturday morning the 1ooo’s of riot police were nowhere to be seen.
[Read More]

Barcelona: And on the seventh day fires subside

What happened in Barcelona this past week isn’t over. In the present circumstances it would not be a cliché to say that the fires that were set from the 26th to the 31st of May, and they numbered in the hundreds and several of them were as large as the wide avenues they built to prevent our revolts, live on in our hearts. Tens of thousands of people have won transformative experiences. When they see a cop, an intersection, a construction site, a dumpster, a bank, a surveillance camera, a journalist, new meanings and new possibilities appear unbidden before their eyes.

Though it isn’t over, the struggle here has entered another phase. If things kick off again in the next days, if streets are wrested away from the forces of order and columns of smoke pour skyward once more, it will be different people who have taken the initiative, and for different reasons.
[Read More]

Calais: The State Fumbles, Migrants Continue their Struggle

On Friday, the migrants occupying the food distribution center brought a list of demands that they had agreed upon to the prefect and the media. At first, the prefect maintained that the 48 hour period in which they were to vacate the premises had expired and refused to enter a dialogue. However, seeing that they were determined to stay, he set up a meeting for today [Saturday] with the departmental Director of Social Cohesion, who was soon joined by the sub-prefect. They proposed a second meeting to the refugees next Tuesday, on the condition that by then they move to another place and leave the food distribution center. It seems that a meeting is planned Monday morning at the Ministry of the Interior regarding the situation of the migrants in Calais; the meeting on Tuesday will likely depend on the decisions taken Monday. The proposal to continue the dialogue in another location was accompanied by a threat: if the migrants did not leave the food distribution center on their own over the weekend, they would be evicted by force, arrested and sent back to their countries of origin. Of course, this poses the question of where should they go. The authorities let slip the idea of moving to the old municipal camp site. The state now stands before the contradiction of demanding that people leave one place only to occupy another, without permission, somewhere which inevitably belongs to someone. The site of the old camp grounds belongs to the city of Calais. [Read More]

Amsterdam: We Are Here people stay in Havenstraat

Amsterdam_Wij_Zijn_Hier_refugees_Havenstraat

Most of the members of We Are Here currently living at the former prison in the Havenstraat in Amsterdam had to leave the building past June 1st. Which they didn’t and following to that the city subpoenaed everyone. The case will take place coming Friday, June 13, 13.30h. at the court of Amsterdam, Parnassusweg 220. The lawyer Pim Fischer is preparing for a strong plea for access to human basic necessaries for everyone.

The group of establishers “We Are Here” are decided not leave the government building , Havenstraat. “Here is the place to know our destiny clearly” We signed agreement in vluchtkantoor for two things:
1/ Those of who can lead their life in Nederland must clearly confirmed and told.
2/ Those of who can go back and will go back must be clearly assisted and taken to their country ! [Read More]

Calais: The Occupation Continues

2014-05-29-Calais_occupied_Salam

Tomorrow, the occupation of SALAM by the inhabitants of the three camps evicted yesterday will enter its fourth day. They arrived early Tuesday morning, in anticipation of the destruction of their homes, at the food distribution center, which is normally closed except for an evening meal (and lunch on the weekend). They were looking for a safer space to stay, protected from the wind, the rain and the police, but also for a place to take a stand, to demand access to basic services and political consideration from the government, locally and across Europe. [Read More]