Announcement about the evacuation of the ‘Albatross’ migrant squat

This is an announcement by the assembly ‘Ano Poli squats and allies’, posted on the website Athens Indymedia on April 6, 2017.

The so-called refugee crisis of 2015-2016 led to the emergence of a mass solidarity movement towards migrants and refugees. One aspect of this solidarity was the squatting of abandoned buildings by ally groups and the establishment of housing projects based on the principles of self-organisation, anti-hierarchy and mutual aid. In Thessaloniki, there were more than 10 such squats which hosted hundreds of newly-arrived migrants. The ‘Albatross’ squat in Ano Poli was one of them until it was evacuated on April 5, 2017. During the police operation for its evacuation, fourteen people were arrested, among them migrants from Algeria and Morocco.

Announcement by the assembly ‘Ano Poli squats and allies’ in Thessaloniki. On the evacuation of the Ano Poli squat.

‘In the early morning of Wednesday, April 5, the “Albatross” squat in Tsinari, Thessaloniki, was evacuated by the cops and the building’s owners. The “Albatross” squat was started about 6 months ago by allies and migrants, with a view to covering the latter’s housing needs. The police invasion resulted in 14 arrests, some of whom are migrants, and one person has been hospitalized after being beaten by the cops. A few hours later, the allies who tried to gather the arrestees’ personal items were also detained. This squat is one of the many housing projects running in the area of Ano Poli. In these projects, we shape our lives based on our needs as we actively resist all oppression. By squatting buildings which had remained empty for years, we make a choice against and beyond the commercialisation of housing and rentier culture, relying on the solidarity bonds we cultivate among us. In the everyday life we want to build, there is no room for cops, snitches, ‘concerned neighbours’, fascists. Under the current circumstances, we view this squat evacuation as the continuation of the state’s and the establishment’s repressive strategies against squats and solidarity relations which have been unfolding over the last few months, with migrant housing facilities emerging as prime targets for this crackdown (“Albatross”, “Orphanage”, “Hurriya”, the Nikis Street Squat, evacuation threats against squats in Athens). We promise to respond by defending squats as spaces for housing and struggle and we are intensifying our activities inside and out of the squats. Solidarity to squats. If there is no resistance in the neighbourhoods, our cities will turn into modern prisons. No people without houses – no houses without people.’

Ano Poli squats and allies