Major eviction of squat in Amsterdam | NOS

The police evacuated a squat on the Marnixstraat in Amsterdam this afternoon. It is a former hotel near Leidseplein that has been renamed Hotel Mokum by the squatters.

Squatting has been banned since 2010, but the squatters who moved into the building six weeks ago did not care, city broadcaster reports. AT5. They speak of a protest against vacancy and “the sale of the city”.

The squatters claim that the former hotel Marnix has been empty for two years. But the owner denies that and tells Het Parool that renovations are taking place, but that everything is taking longer because of corona. He immediately filed a complaint against the squatters. The Public Prosecution Service told the squatters last Thursday that they must leave. The official reason is that the fire safety of the building is at stake.

“We didn’t expect to be here for 10 years, but I don’t understand the emergency eviction,” said one of the squatters. yesterday. “I think that’s a very stupid choice by the government.”

Administrative transfer by GVB bus

This afternoon the police started the ‘administrative relocation’ of an estimated sixty to seventy squatters and a few sympathizers. They were put in a GVB bus and taken to another part of the city. According to NH News a number of demonstrators of the mobile unit were beaten with a baton. At about 4 p.m., the last squatters who had chained themselves with a chain were carefully “cut loose”. They were also taken away by the police. As far as we know, no one has been arrested.

Squatting was a common way of drawing attention to the lack of affordable housing, vacancy and speculation by slum landlords, especially in the 1980s. In Amsterdam and Nijmegen in particular, numerous sometimes large buildings were squatted and evicted (sometimes years later). In a number of cases, squatters were also given the opportunity to purchase the house in which they had moved in.

In the Netherlands, since the Squatting and Vacancy Act came into effect in 2010 ., the squatting of buildings has been prohibited forbidden. Since that time, squatters have been punished when they take up residence in an empty building. In 2015, the police evacuated the last largest squatters’ stronghold in Amsterdam, Vrankrijk on Spuistraat, with great difficulty.

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