International
meeting, 20-21 June 2015, Athens (Greece)
Many
people in Greece and Europe are facing an acute housing crisis, part of the
broader social, political and economic crisis of the last years. The harsh
austerity policies imposed by the Troika and the previous Greek government
since 2010 have led to a severe violation of the right to housing and the city
for the majority of the Greek population. Today, more than 30% of the
population is indebted towards the banks or the state (for taxes and social
security). More than 50% of the population finds it hard to cover housing and
living expenses every month. Many live in overcrowded conditions facing
inadequate housing conditions and energy poverty, without electricity and
heating, and many are homeless. People all over Europe face similar worsening
housing conditions and violation of their basic rights, through forced
evictions, privatizations of public housing and resources, financialization of housing
and the increasing power acquired by the banking sector.
In
Greece, the recent political changes and the new left government of Syriza have
set as first priority to face poverty and housing problems. This will be a big
and difficult task because of the long lasting recession and “external”
pressures for further austerity measures. In any case, this effort that deploys
in two levels, emergency actions and long term strategic policies, could be an
important challenge to discuss in our meeting.
Initiatives
and networks all over Greece have been, and still are, organizing in order to
resist auctions and evictions, by protesting, networking, advocating, providing
mutual solidarity and support. At the same time these initiatives intent to
open the discussion regarding common housing problems together with all grassroots
and institutional/formal structures working on this field, in order to develop
tools and strategies and formulate alternatives, against the present misery.
Concrete solidarity from all over Europe is needed to render visibility to the
housing problems, to empower the emerging social movements in Greece and to
advance the common struggles against evictions and dispossession provoked by
the Troika and current EU policy direction on a European level.
The
European Coalition for the Right to Housing and the City, active already for
more than one and a half year, is an important component towards this goal.
Important steps have been made in previous international and local coordinated
actions, against financial and real-estate global players, in many European cities.
DRAFT
PROGRAM
DAY
1 – 20/6/2015
Welcome / introduction
1st
session: Land and housing dispossession. (neoliberal policies in the urban
spaces)
2nd
session: Debt as an instrument of social control (auctions and evictions)
3rd
session: Migrant and refugee housing needs in the European south.
DAY
2 – 21/6/2015
1st
session: Alternative housing policies
2nd
session: Collective ownership schemes, urban spaces as commons
3rd
session: Organizing for action (struggles against evictions, occupations,
organizing against banks…)
Conclusing
assembly: towards a charter/manifesto/common claims for
the
right to housing
DAY
3 AND DAY 4 – 22-23/6/2015
Meeting
of the European coalition
General
assembly and workgroups (action against evictions, research on financialisation,
charter) of the European Coalition for the Right to Housing and the City
Temporary
contact mails: solidarityforall@gmail.com / eu-housing-action@listen.jpbelin.de
Organizers:
Solidarity
for All – Encounter Athens – Platform against Auctions – European Coalition for
the Right to Housing and the City – Rosa-Luxemburg-Stiftung, Brussels office –
(open for new participations)