The recent developments in Athens are marked by a retreating state, overwhelmed by the task of implementing the EU-Turkey deal as well as the obligatory provision of accommodation and nutrition to ~57,000 ‘persons of care’. In the city of Athens, the everyday subsistence of people, who planned to merely pass through Greece on their way up north, has largely fallen back on self-organised autonomous structures aided by anti-state activists and non-state volunteers. Various squats (occupied empty buildings, most of which are owned publicly) with different organizational features and political aims have popped up on the map. Some serve the need of accommodation as housing squats, others function as social centres, with its activities ranging from the free (re)distribution of goods such as clothing and food items and housing self-organised kitchens-crews to the creation of spaces for political organizing and (legal) info-points. Most of these squats can be found in the neighborhood of Exarchia, with its history of autonomous self-organisation and a strong anarchist movement. But there are exceptions to this rule (e.g. City Plaza Hotel) and the following is an attempted short overview about the numerous squats. Some are well-known, others might be completely unheard of outside of Athens, some have opened up recently in the last few weeks, others have been running for months. It is neither an exhaustive list nor a complete and detailed account of events, but rather an attempt to communicate the very basics about different squats and solidarity-projects and their usefulness vis-à-vis the substandard and insufficient government-run camps. [Read More]
Greece: Refugee-Squats in Athens
Greece: The occupied refugee center Notara26 in Athens
We had the opportunity of making an interview with two activists of the occupied and self-organized refugee center Notara26 in Athens, Greece. The comrades tell us about the origins and ideas of their center as well as of the anarchist influence and importance of the Exarchia neighborhood. They also comment on the topic of governmental (Syriza) policies and the difference of their work to such policies. And they also mention problems encountered in this project.
Some more interviews with anarchist organizations and anarchist projects will follow soon as part of our new series on anarchism and social struggles in the Mediterranean. This is part is on the occupied refugee center Notara26 in Athens, Greece.
Length: 12:36 min
You can download the audio at: archive.org (wav | mp3 | ogg).
Here you can listen to it directly:
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Athens: Housing Squat for Refugees, Notara 26
Produced by Elena Askløf and Peter Laugesen / Our Europe. [Read More]
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