Sun, 22 November 2009
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Amsterdam has recently toughened its stance against squatters in the capital.Although up to now the city council has opposed an outright squatting ban, the closure of a squatter nightclub and a call by the mayor for legislation to secure the right of police to evict "illegal" squatters indicate a subtle departure from its soft approach to the practice.
On Thursday, the city council announced that it will continue to evict "illegal" squatters in the capital following a ruling in its favour by an appeal judge. The appeal judge reversed an earlier verdict by a lower court which ruled that there was no legal basis to evict this category of squatters, effectively forbidding evictions by court order.
During the 1970s and 1980s, the squatters' movement in the Netherlands won a number of rights to prevent property speculation and buildings remaining empty for several years. As a result, squatters are allowed to take over a property if it has been empty for more than a year. They also have to furnish the property with a table, chair and bed.
"Legal squats"
For decades Amsterdam has evicted squatters by court order who do not adhere to these rules, but well established "legal" squats have largely been left alone. Nevertheless, city mayor Job Cohen recently ordered the closure of Vrankrijk, a bar and nightclub run by squatters in the center of the capital following an incident which left one of the nightclub's guests paralysed.
i think they should get jobs and contribute to the society of which they feed off, then to cover their embarrassment of taking handouts, live a so called alternative life, its okay to be different, but pay your way, taxes, etc....
Have you ever bothered to have a conversation with any squatters? Maybe even taken a trip down to the local squat and see a movie, get a bite to eat, or watch a local band? You'll find that apart from working in these new forms of business, the people who reside in these squats also have normal, tax paying jobs. I work alongside a number of squatters at Paradiso and they are all very intelligent, very generous people. Maybe you should look into the matter rather than classifying them all as beggars and tramps. Thank you.
Whether you like it or not the lack of available space in Amsterdam means that squats are prime real estate where money is to be made; as long as money rules squats can never survive in the long run. What is even more depressing however is that once again the government/municipality uses a single unproven incident to drive a legal change (like the banning of mushrooms) and this particular incident could have happened anywhere.
these things happen when you get a conservative government running a supposed liberal country. there are so many empty buildings in amsterdam, this is why squatting started in the first place. the emptiness has not changed, and squatting is obviously still needed. it's not just the fact that they are supposedly 'scrounging off society' but it's a principle thing. why pay a third to half of your wages so you can have a place to live? it is their responsibility as citizens to use these empty buildings to their full extent, and they are.
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