Apr 16 2022 By thecollective from squat.net
Around 30 people have been evicted from an autonomously organised shelter in North London.
At 9am on Thursday 7th April agents of the National Eviction Team and notorious eviction magnate Andrew Marsh, smashed their way through barricades to enforce a High Court writ despite repeated attempts by the occupiers to enter into dialogue with the property’s owners, OneHousing, to negotiate a peaceful and orderly handover.
The former St. Mungo’s hostel on Grey’s Inn Road has housed a community of vulnerable adults since it was squatted in December last year, including a woman six months pregnant with twins and many people who the care system has categorically failed to support through the winter.
The eviction comes only days after the Severe Weather Emergency Protocol for London was activated, with freezing temperatures predicted for later in the week. There are no planning permission requests logged with Camden council for the property, and it will now most likely remain empty until its inevitable conversion into unaffordable housing.
Despite ardent prayers, St. Mungo did not manifest, and no representatives of the charity attended. After being evicted through the backdoor to prevent a shameful public scene, the former residents were subjected to harassment by police to ‘clear the area’, despite no alternative accommodation being offered by the authorities.
Several residents were visibly distressed and protected from arrest and restraint by the cops through the care and determination of other community members.
One journalist on the scene incredulously asked the police where everyone was supposed to go, to which a resident responded:
“Don’t worry, we’re autonomous.”
Since being opened by anarchists last year, the shelter has self-organised to provide room and board for dozens of people, including squatters, former renters and rough sleepers, and becoming a hub for the distribution of hundreds of meals, clothes and cold weather gear.
One of the most recent members to join is a survivor of domestic abuse who had been rejected from their previous refuge and would have ended up on the street otherwise.
The fifteen rooms were often double and triple occupied, with a communal sleeping area in the basement at times home to up to a dozen more. There were sinks in each room, showers and baths on each floor.
Many of the residents are surviving with mental illness, addiction and post-traumatic stress exacerbated by their previous precarious housing situation. Many were found by the shelter’s outreach teams sleeping rough in the King’s Cross area and had become full-time members of the community.
Daphne, a former resident, reported: “The other hostels are rife with drugs and violence. At least here, we could solve our own problems, and make our own decisions. It’s been more than a shelter, this was our home. If it wasn’t for squatting, I’d be on the streets.”
Continue reading ““Don’t worry, we’re autonomous”. Squatters rescue those evicted from Winter Shelter”
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