Amsterdam Metropolitan Area has no place on Mipim

By: fawda - March 12th, 2014  Filed under: News

Accusal of Amsterdam Metropolitan Area by speculation research collective SPOK

The Mipim is celebrating its 25th birthday this year. As all previous years, a lot of Dutch companies and local governments will be present, the latter also paying € 1600,- for an entrance fee probably paid for from our taxes. One of the local Dutch authorities present for the Mipim festivities, that really should have stayed at home to work on solving the serious housing shortages in its area, is the Amsterdam Metropolitan Area.

Despite the continuing Dutch policies promoting home-ownership, in Amsterdam alone 270.000 people are searching for an affordable house to rent. They cannot afford or are not interested in buying a house. Nor can they rent on the liberalised (expensive) rental housing market in Amsterdam where prices have become extremely high, as one of the results of the home-ownership promotion policies. [Read More]

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Maastricht: Information about the eviction of the Mandril Cultural and Political Centre (MCPC) and its future

By: fawda - February 18th, 2014  Filed under: Communique, News

As some of you might know, the Mandril will soon get evicted – on the 1st of April we (the MCPC and the people who live here) must have left the building.

This is because the area will be renovated and new projects will inhabit these buildings. Our cultural freezone siblings the Hotel the Ossekop needed to be demolished for this, a big part of the Cultuurfront (also a cultural freezone) was also eaten by the bulldozer in a surprising turn of events and so the Mandril too must make space. Our own building will be filled up by the Toneelgroep Maastricht (theatre group), and soon the indie film house Lumiere will be relocated to another empty building on the terrain, next to the Muziekgieterij. [Read More]

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Utrecht: new squat in the city center

By: fawda - February 16th, 2014  Filed under: Communique, News
Van_Sijpesteijnkade_25_Utrecht

This morning a house on the Van Sijpesteijnkade 25 has been squatted. The police has passed by and is deciding if they are going to do something. The building is property of NS, who is buying a lot of buildings around the station for huge development plans. The whole street will be demolished on short terms, but because this building is a monument they integrated it into the new building plans and it wont be demolished. When these plans will take place is still unclear.
The neighborhood has protested the plans to demolish the street. The buildings are beautiful, there is a lot of history in these buildings and they are in good conditions to live in. The plans for the new buildings are dull, grey and not inspiring. The demolition of this street is a shame, but is made possible because the old residents have been replaced years ago for anti-squat. Anti-squatters can be kicked out on short notice. [Read More]

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Amsterdam: Joe’s Garage, Newsletter February 2014

By: Hlulome - February 15th, 2014  Filed under: News
2014_02_Joes_Garage_Poster

During the last months various squats were opened and closed in Amsterdam and surroundings. Yet, the eviction procedure is becoming easier for the cops. Recently, the police came out with an old trick, the speed- eviction: despite squatting being illegal, squatters still have the right to domestic peace, to get notified 8 weeks in advance, and to be able to start a court case to defend themselves. However, in the last weeks two office buildings in the Amsterdam’s surroundings were evicted by regular cops without any notice, just a few days after the occupation. The squatters were arrested and quickly released without charges.
Evictions without notice and without a court ruling are illegal, as they violate the right to domestic privacy of the inhabitants. The cops know this well, but too often they put themselves ‘above the law’ to serve the interests of private property owners.
To stop the trend of illegal speed-evictions, the Amsterdam squatting groups are about to sue the state, and made a call out to other groups of squatters for collecting cases of speed-eviction. [Read More]

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Netherlands: Court case against speed eviction

By: fawda - February 10th, 2014  Filed under: Communique, News
Amsterdam_Simon_Stevinstraat_fist_squatting_action

The police is threatening squatted buildings in Amsterdam and surroundings with speed-evictions, which means eviction without previous notice nor decision by a judge. One of the tools to reverse this trend is to start a court-case against speed eviction.

On October 1st, 2010 , the new law 138A on ” Squatting and Vacancy ‘ was included in the Penal Code. Although this law defines squatting as a crime, squatters still have the right to domestic peace. This means that the police is not allowed to evict squatted buildings without notice and without a court sentence. Thus speed eviction constitute a violation to this right, violation that is allowed only in situations of emergency. This state of ”emergency” could be applied when the property was still in use at the time it was squatted, in case of dangerous situation or when there is disturbance of public order. Only in these cases the police can decide to evict the squat immediately. [Read More]

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Amsterdam: Illegal eviction tomorrow February 4th, Ellermanstraat 31, Duivendrecht

By: fawda - February 3rd, 2014  Filed under: News
2014_02_04_Eviction_Ellermanstraat_31_Duivendrecht_Amsterdam

This morning police came by to announce that the recently squatted building at Ellermanstraat 31 in Duivendrecht will be (speed)evicted tomorrow February 4th, 2 o’clock. Since there’s no reason for a speed eviction and eviction for squatting is only allowed after verdict by a judge, this eviction will be illegal. This will be the 2nd illegal eviction in two weeks.
The neighbours at Ellermanstraat 33 can also use help, even though not officially under threat. Both buildings are heavily barricaded and occupied.
So come and join us tomorrow morning at Ellermanstraat 31 from ten on for breakfast, to show we don’t accept this police-state behaviour. AT5 will be there with a camera crew to film everything, bring your own camera too! [Read More]

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Amsterdam: Klaprozenweg 48 squatted

By: fawda - February 2nd, 2014  Filed under: Communique, News
Klaprozenweg_48_Amsterdam

Today 02/02/14 migrants and students have begun using the office at Klaprozenweg 48 which was left abandoned due to the speculative housing bubble.
The right to housing falls into the category of fundamental rights of the person, which have been established by the European Court of Human Rights (Cedu). We want to safeguard this right and protect the soil and the environment. For this reason we continue our actions of nonviolent protest until the abuses of corporations is ended.
The failure of the Dutch welfare system and under the eyes of everyone, starting by health insurance, that is a way to extort extra money to the taxpayer and in the same time to make it a slave with a payment rate for the entire life, and devote money to pharmacy multinational that often use this money to generate new diseases which infect the world. [Read More]

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Amsterdam: The new squat ‘eFFi’

By: fawda - January 23rd, 2014  Filed under: Communique, News
2014_01_18_Banner_Kraken_gaat_door_Van_Effenstraat_2_Amsterdam

Amsterdam has a new squat in the West.

Since the 18th of January 2014, the ground floor apartment of the Van Effenstraat 2, located in the Kinkerbuurt, is squatted. It hosts from this day on the house project group ‘eFFi’ which is doing renovations and makes it livable again; under the slogan “Better to renovate through squatting than to destroy through ownership.” The apartment as well as most of the building blocks around were supposed for social rent since their construction around 1900 under the ‘social’ housing cooperation Rochdale. The ownership and therefore the responsibility for maintaining these houses lie still by Rochdale, which however is defining these quite different and lets its properties empty and rotting. [Read More]

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Utrecht: Eviction of squatted apartments in Zuilen

By: fawda - January 15th, 2014  Filed under: News
Squatted apartments in Zuilen

Tomorrow the squatted apartments in Zuilen will be evicted by Mitros, with help of the police. The judge decided not to wait for the higher appeal, but just allow the eviction.

Perhaps you’ve read in the newspaper that the squatted apartments at the Boelesteinlaan will soon be evicted. These places were squatted about a year ago to highlight the fact that Mitros is not doing their job even according to their own statutes and to protest the lack of affordable housing in Utrecht.
In 2010 there was a fire in one of the apartments. Instead of cleaning the little bit of soot from the hallway Mitros evicted the remaining houses and shortly afterwards cut off the basic services to prevent anyone from living in the building. [Read More]

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Amsterdam: First squat of 2014

By: sisulscz - January 9th, 2014  Filed under: Communique, News
Plantage Middenlaan 72 Amsterdam

First squatting action in Amsterdam 2014. Good start of the year, lots of people, beautiful empty house Today visit of neighborhood cop and for the moment we stay. Thanks to all the people that show solidarity and help to make it possible. Kraaken gaat door 2014. The house is located on Plantage Middenlaan 72, Amsterdam. Neighbourhood letter below [Read More]

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Amsterdam: New squat on Sumatrastraat 232

By: fawda - December 15th, 2013  Filed under: Communique, News
Sumatrastraat 232 Amsterdam

HEY! We squatted a new place!

In Oost Amsterdam yesterday the new squat ‘The Swamp” was opened.

We are 6 people who want to use this space to make workshops, cook, teach dance classes and other creative activities.

The space used to be a gym hall and has been closed for almost 3 years. It was previously a kickboxing training hall until government funding was cut and the place was closed and left derelict.

The area is due to be demolished in Spring of 2014 by Eigenhaard but the local people have started a campaign against EVILhaard as the tenants are being moved out and only those wealthy enough for the new build standards are allowed to move back. [Read More]

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Amsterdam: ‘We Are Here’ squat Vluchtgarage

By: sisulscz - December 15th, 2013  Filed under: Communique, News

On Saturday, the ‘We Are Here’ group of refugees found a new home at Kralenbeek 100 in Amsterdam.

Almost two weeks ago they were evicted from their previous squat, the Vluchtkantoor on Weteringsschans, and some of the group found temporary shelter at the Havenstraat. Since then a group of 90 have spent two weeks wandering through the city, finding shelter each night with friends and social centres. Now there is a new building squatted, in the south of Amsterdam.
[Read More]

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