Brussels: eviction of a squat of 7 undocumented people by the municipality of Ixelles without alternative housing

By: fawda - April 10th, 2023  Filed under: Communique, News

This Thursday, April 6 at 9am, the municipality of Ixelles evicted a squat of 7 undocumented people, applying an inhabitability order dating from October 2022, without any rehousing solution at the end. The squat located at 20 rue Élise had opened at the end of September 2022, in a building empty since 2017.

They are all ex-hunger strikers of the ULB (2021). This group of people had then lived (with other people) in a building in the See U thanks to a temporary occupancy agreement. But they were expelled at the end of September. So they sought refuge in this empty house. The irony is that they regularly work in the construction sector and have not yet won their fight to obtain papers: [Read More]

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Brussels: call out, imminent eviction KBC occupation

By: fawda - December 13th, 2021  Filed under: Communique, News

Solidarity rally, Monday 13 December, 14:00
Press release of the Collective Zone Neutre, KBC Occupation

Since last July, thousands of refugees are blocked in Belarus at the gates of Poland. Pushed on one side by the Belarusian forces and on the other by the Polish authorities, without any European intervention to put an end to this tragedy. Hundreds of migrants find themselves in the streets of Brussels, without any help or resources from the competent authorities.
In recent years, several organizations have had to file a series of lawsuits against illegal instructions or practices of the Belgian state in terms of reception. While undocumented citizens and activists take care of finding housing solutions for hundreds of migrants, through actions of occupation of empty houses. While political administrators wash their hands of it. [Read More]

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Brussels: Louise Occupation, victory for the squatters

By: fawda - September 3rd, 2021  Filed under: Communique, News

Mobilization pays off! In May, faced with the threat of eviction from the Louise/Defacqz occupation, the hundred or so homeless people who have found refuge there mobilized. In a few days, several actions were organized. More than 60 associations and 2000 citizens had signed a petition to ask the owners to reconsider their position and to allow the occupying persons and families to stay in the shelter until renovations. Faced with this impressive mobilization, the eviction was suspended. After several weeks of tough negotiations, a temporary occupation agreement has just been signed with the owners and public authorities, for at least one year (renewable). The building has been squatted within the framework of the “Campagne de Réquisition Solidaire” (Solidarity Requisition Campaign) with several groups of homeless or badly housed people, including La Voix des Sans papiers which will manage the building. More than ever, let’s stay mobilized for the right to housing and papers for all! [Read More]

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Brussels: eviction suspended and doors open to the Louise occupation

By: fawda - May 26th, 2021  Filed under: Communique, News

The mobilization against the threat of eviction of the Louise/Defacqz occupation seems to be bearing fruit. In a few days, more than 60 associations and 2000 citizens have signed a petition to ask the owners to reconsider their position and to allow the occupying individuals and families to stay in the shelter until the work is done. Thank you for your support!

The eviction has been suspended and the owners could start negotiating a temporary occupation agreement again. Contacts in this sense have taken place with their lawyer and with the alderman for housing of the city of Brussels. The owners have to come back to the occupants in order to, we hope, advance in the negotiations. Nothing is won yet, but things are moving in the right direction. Let’s stay mobilized for the future! [Read More]

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Brussels: a hundred residents mobilise to avoid eviction

By: fawda - May 7th, 2021  Filed under: Communique, News

Press release 7 May 2021. Brussels city – a hundred residents are mobilising to avoid eviction: the building has been empty since 2017 and belongs to Belgium’s second largest fortune.

The building was squatted by the “Solidarity Requisition Campaign” in March. Following the occupation, negotiations were started in order to reach an agreement and sign a temporary occupation agreement with the owner, Viscountess Caroline de Spoelberch. Despite encouraging beginnings, the latter is now backing down and has obtained an eviction order. The residents are mobilising to avoid being thrown out on the street in the midst of a social and health crisis.

A hundred or so people have been living for over a month in the gigantic building , which overlooks both Rue de Livourne and Avenue Louise. Purchased in 2018 for 18 million euros by Caroline de Spoelberch, it has remained unoccupied since then. For this reason, the “Solidarity Requisitioning Campaign” took over the building at the end of March and several groups of homeless or badly housed people, including the Voice of the Homeless BXL and the Voice of the Homeless Family, quickly moved in. [Read More]

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Brussels: School 404 evicted after fire

By: fawda - April 18th, 2021  Filed under: Communique, News

Press release of the school 404

This Saturday, April 10th, a fire took place in the former school 14, rue Capronnier 1, in Schaerbeek. Renamed School 404, this place was inhabited since March 2020 by about thirty people and several associations including Hope4ever and the ASBL 404. Fortunately, there were no physical injuries. On the same day, the municipality enforced its decision to evict these inhabitants from their dwelling by the police.
The course of this day and those that followed, the handling of the situation by the public services, the forces of order, the firemen, the media and the owners of the place, reveals various mistreatments, discriminations and abuses of all kinds.

We will not keep quiet about our anger and refuse that once again, our dissident voices are silenced and stripped of their political dimension. We refuse the stigmatization of squatters, and claim squatting as one of the most relevant and emancipating political dynamics in the city of Brussels today. [Read More]

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Arlon: the Zablière evicted

By: fawda - March 15th, 2021  Filed under: Communique, News

Early this monday morning, March 15, the forces of disorder evicted the zadists present in the area. The Arlon police mobilized last night with the support of the federal police on the outskirts of the Zablière to begin an eviction at dawn. This method of intervention without prior notice aims to avoid having to confront the movement as a whole, to prevent solidarity and resistance from organizing.
Motivated by a study of the local police attesting that the zadists were “a serious threat to security” the eviction was able to take place outside the classic legal channels; an eviction must be served by bailiff several days in advance. Nine zadists were arrested. It is essential that we do not let them make us invisible.
Vincent Magnus talks about an end of the saga, let’s show him that he is not at the end of his surprises, let’s be numerous at the beginning of the evening. Let’s bring back to the center of Arlon the resistance movement that he did not want to meet this morning. Let’s remind once again that we are a large and diverse movement, rich in colors and motivation! [Read More]

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Brussels: the municipality chooses repression and lies rather than solidarity

By: fawda - March 1st, 2021  Filed under: Communique, News

Press release – Solidarity Requisitioning Campaign

On Friday 26th February we wanted to squat the old Pacheco Hospice in the city centre. Our action clearly did not please the municipal politicians – Khalid Zian, president of the CPAS (Centres Publics d’Action Sociale) and Philippe Close, mayor of the City of Brussels – who opted for violent repression rather than negotiation. In the evening, we were bluntly kicked out by the police. 38 people were detained for several hours and will be fined. People were kicked in the head and verbally abused. We wonder where such a strong reaction against a solidarity action that has been rather well received in other municipalities and by the region in recent weeks comes from. Why does the city of Brussels not want to allow the use of a CPAS building that has been empty for 4 years to house people in difficulty?

The CPAS justifies the eviction by the fact that a temporary occupation is currently being considered and that a public call for tenders will soon be launched. Khalid Zian, the president of the CPAS, goes so far as to falsely assert that an occupation for accommodation would have been possible “on condition that it was properly supervised and agreed upon beforehand”. However, the municipal authorities have been approached several times about this building (by the Voice of the Undocumented – la Voix des Sans Papiers – already 2 years ago, by the Region this winter for emergency accommodation) and have each time refused to make the building available. [Read More]

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Brussels: political appropriation with the agreement of occupation of the squat rue de Koninck

By: fawda - February 26th, 2021  Filed under: News

The group, which had been squatting since March 2020 in a former printing shop at 44 rue Honoré Longtin in Jette, was threatened following last October’s eviction order. Launched in December, an occupation campaign led to the opening of several squats (L’Hospitalière in Saint-Gilles, the Citydev building, the Sleeping Beauty and the Opel Garage in Molenbeek) and the relocation of the inhabitants of the Jette squat to these new squats.

Communiqué of the Solidarity Requisition Campaign, February 25, 2021:

A media, political and associative requisition of our action ! Unbelievable false press release of the commune of Jette (and taken again in several media) !

While for many months, the public authorities were unable to find an answer to the situation and did nothing, they are today congratulating themselves for having found a “definitive” solution (false: the agreement is signed for one year) and are reappropriating the solidarity and self-organized response of our Campaign: the requisition of an empty public building. [Read More]

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Brussels: Update from the Solidarity Requisition Campaign

By: fawda - February 12th, 2021  Filed under: Communique, News

On December 18, 2020, L’Hospitalière was open! Since then, the Solidarity Requisition Campaign continues! Here the news from the different buildings.

L’Hospitalière:
A precarious occupancy agreement has been signed: 80 places of decent housing have been opened, in a building that was otherwise doomed to remain unoccupied. This occupation will also allow the collectives to organize their struggles for the regularization of undocumented migrants and for dignity!

Citydev building:
Negotiations are underway, we hope to be able to conclude a one-year agreement (at least until the end of March 2022). About 30 people are already living in the building. We are waiting for the heating to be turned on again and for the fire department to visit us so that we can complete the move of the Jette occupancy. In all, 200 people will be able to live there. [Read More]

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Brussels: new occupation of empty building

By: fawda - January 16th, 2021  Filed under: Communique, News

As of Friday, January 15, 6,936 square meters formerly used by Opel – located at 552 chaussée de Gand in Molenbeek – are occupied to rehouse some of the 200 people about to be evicted from their homes in Jette. The opening of this new squat in Molenbeek follows the opening of the Hospitalière, a former clinic in Saint-Gilles that has become home to 80 people since December 18. This action announces the launch of a campaign of “solidarity occupations”.

As collectives and associations of people with and without papers, actors of the right to housing, inhabitants of Brussels, we are organizing ourselves once again with our means to enforce the right to housing and to demand the regularization of undocumented migrants.

We will continue to open and occupy empty buildings as long as the public authorities do not provide sufficient structural responses to the social and health crisis. By launching this campaign, we affirm that we are determined to organize ourselves in the face of the absurdity of thousands of empty buildings while hundreds of people sleep outside in our city. The opening of about ten squats has made it possible to house several hundred people during the spring 2020 confinement. Today, we want to make this solidarity and self-organized response visible, while refuting the idea that this is a structural and sufficient solution. It is up to the public authorities to make it a priority. [Read More]

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Brussels: Festival du Coucou Puissant, 3rd edition

By: fawda - October 4th, 2020  Filed under: Communique, News

For the third consecutive year, the Festival du Coucou Puissant will be held in Brussels from October 8 to November 1, 2020. There are countless private, public or unclassifiable spaces, temporarily occupied in our big city. This festival wants to make visible the occupations and the interstices of creation, alternative housing, resistance and collective experimentation that tries to develop there. The Coucou Puissant wants to be autonomous and self-organized. We are aware of the diversity of places and practices (squat, legal ones with a temporary contract…). We are also aware that there are fewer and fewer squats in Brussels to the benefit of occupations negotiated in advance… This questions us and we wonder how to assert the dynamics of the squats? In the current context of “post” confinement and the eviction period coming back, we also want to affirm our support with the very young “anti-eviction front”. The nomadic program of the festival will be able to support places in peril. The festival wants to be a space of solidarity, meeting, debate, autonomy, celebration and emancipation. [Read More]

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