London: “Fuck the bosses:” evictions exceeded by new occupations by Autonomous Shelter Network

By: fawda - April 15th, 2022  Filed under: Communique, News

The eviction of the winter shelter on Gray’s Inn Road on April 7th and 2 other longer-lasting squats in London have lead to approximately 5 more locations being opened and brought back into use by houseless and precarious persons to provide food, clothes and shelter within our community. The disused buildings were occupied and activated by mixed collectives of former rough sleepers, anarchists from the NFA Queer Punx, Amsterdam-based Anarcha-Feminist Group, and members of Resist Anti-Trespass.

The buildings form part of the Autonomous Shelter Network – a mutual aid, mutual respect association dedicated to direct housing and the provision of food and necessities. It is an affiliation of non-hierarchical, horizontally organised groups that are self-organised by community members without the state, business or charities. The locations and exact number of residences has not been disclosed to protect the residents privacy. The shelters are self-organised by residents who determine set and organisational style amongst themselves, with one shelter’s motto being “fuck the bosses”. [Read More]

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London: “Don’t worry, we’re autonomous”. Winter shelter evicted

By: fawda - April 7th, 2022  Filed under: Communique, News

Around 30 people have been evicted from an autonomously organised shelter in North London. At 9am on Thursday 7th April agents of the National Eviction Team and notorious eviction magnate Andrew Marsh, smashed their way through barricades to enforce a High Court writ despite repeated attempts by the occupiers to enter into dialogue with the property’s owners, OneHousing, to negotiate a peaceful and orderly handover.

The former St. Mungo’s hostel on Grey’s Inn Road has housed a community of vulnerable adults since it was squatted in December last year, including a woman six months pregnant with twins and many people who the care system has categorically failed to support through the winter. The eviction comes only days after the Severe Weather Emergency Protocol for London was activated, with freezing temperatures predicted for later in the week. There are no planning permission requests logged with Camden council for the property, and it will now most likely remain empty until its inevitable conversion into unaffordable housing. [Read More]

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London: The Serious Annoyance continue to trespass despite judgement

By: fawda - July 22nd, 2021  Filed under: Communique, News

Freedom Newspaper received the following communique from squatters occupying the former Camberwell police station in South London. The group, known as the Serious Annoyance, lost the legal battle to remain in possession of the property on Tuesday July 20th but remain in occupation in defiance of the granting of an interim possession order (IPO). This high court judgement criminalises anyone remaining in the property from 2.30pm on Wednesday onwards, meaning that the occupiers face arrest and potentially up to six months imprisonment for failing to leave. They have been in occupation since July 9th, when they released this initial statement and are calling for people to support by sharing their story and being present on the street outside pending the threatened eviction.

The police station occupation is part of the resurgent militant squatting movement that has coalesced from a mixture of anarchists, environmental protesters and travellers against the proposed new anti-trespass laws being brought forward by the UK government. The new laws are seen as an outright attack on those from nomadic cultures, as well as against the burgeoning anti-HS2 protest movement. A former police station was occupied earlier this year in response to the Sarah Everard murder, as well as last year in Paddington Green, and previously back in 2014. [Read More]

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UK: London Squatters Getting Organised

By: fawda - October 20th, 2020  Filed under: News

The first London Intersquat in several years took place at a secret occupied location last Saturday, 17th October. Formerly a regular event, the meet-up was attended by nearly 50 members of London’s autonomous community, representing more than a dozen squatted buildings across the city.

Amongst a range of subjects discussed, the agenda covered news reports on the recent successful resistances against illegal evictions, sharing different tactics for using the law and the barricade to prevent bailiffs and security from entering. Action groups were formed to restart Practical Squatters Evenings – an event that for over a decade took place weekly and was an opportunity for old squatters and new to meet each other to form crews and share information and experience. Others joined to support the newly emerging Resisting Anti-Trespass (RAT) movement that is organising to challenge the forthcoming changes to the law – changes that threaten not only squatters, but protesters, travellers and ramblers alike, potentially criminalising thousands of people across the UK. Another group elected to revive the currently dormant Squatters of London Action Paper (SLAP) in response to the need for our community to report, share and create the media that is relevant to us – as well as to acknowledge a welcome return of the infamous Bastard Watch column that named and shamed an ever-growing number of sneaky bailiffs and landlords. Questions were also raised about the status of EU migrants and those from outside the UK considering the imminent Brexit and how we might organise in solidarity through groups such as the Anti-Raids network, aswell as how to form greater unity with the burgeoning tenant’s rights movement with such groups at the London Renter’s Union and ACORN. [Read More]

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