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This here is a text I just wrote to promote the current Big Thing I'm involved in. Opinions, comments, your own experiences?
Squatted social centre in Helsinki, Finland, occupied a month ago and
still standing!
The squatted house in Helsinki is called Koivula, 'place of the birch',
and is located in one of the most beautiful areas in central Helsinki, the
Lapinlahti mental hospital area. The four-story building has two main
entrances, and we have occupied the area you reach by one of these plus
the attic. Plans for occupying the rest of the house, also empty, are
delayed right now.
There are about 20 or so people living in the house, with maybe another 20
who spend a significant amount of time there. The house is generally in
good condition.
It has been empty for 2 years before our occupation, and the realistic
date for anyone either finding any use for it or getting a permit to
demolish is in the end of 2004.
Even though the house sees no other sensible use than by us, the
authorities have decided to try to get rid of us. They are not ready to
use any means necessary, i.e. are not calling on the police to evict us,
because they are afraid of 'bad publicity'. They have, however, used any
means available to make the life of the squatters as difficult as
possible, trying to provoke us in many ways. In the early days of the
occupation, security personnel kept the house under guard 24 hours/day,
stopping people from entering, beating some people with clubs as they
tried to do so. They immediately turned off the water and electricity,
which were switched on at the time of the occupation. The security
personnel have welded shut entrances, jammed first-floor windows, balcony
doors etc. They have fined supporters for 'incorrect parking' in the
hospital parking area! They have made several attempts to remove people
from the attic, and generally made things as difficult as possible for us.
The squatters (as opposed to the security guards) have remained
non-violent in the small confrontations, once removing an illegal-type
baton from a out-of-order security guard has been the only physical
confrontation.
There are no laws allowing squatting in Finland. The occupation goes on
only thanks to the support from the surrounding civil society, and because
an eviction would be 'politically costly' for the owners of the house, the
municipality of Helsinki, and the Hospital Administration who rent it.
The squatter's plans for the building include a café-infopoint, a
multicultural advice bureau for immigrants, a project called Independent
Media Center Helsinki, space for meetings and, of course, housing for
young people.
The squat has a web-site, www.squat.net/valtaus/
If you happen to have your ways by Helsinki, please come visit, especially
on Saturdays, when the café is open, as is the front door. |
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