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

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]

Brussels: Update from the Solidarity Requisition Campaign

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]

Brussels: new occupation of empty building

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]