On February, 20th 2015, the residents of the school received a letter, dated February, 13 in which they are requested to leave the building until March, 19th 2015. The letter threatens with forced eviction in case they do not comply with the order. The letter was signed by Jana Borkamp (Green Party), district chief for finance, culture, and adult education. The residents with a so-called "House ID" are supposed to get “vouchers for hostel beds over a period of 4 weeks.” Within this time, the authorities are “encouraged” to find long-term houses or give “specialized advice.” The district’s new eviction threat also contradicts all solutions that would allow the people to stay in the school and open an autonomous International Refugee Center. It provokes an escalation for no reason.
Download the original eviction letter.
The district justifies the eviction threat with the fact that the church organization Diakonie wants to renovate the school in order to convert it into a refugee center. Diakonie wants to lease and manage the whole property and claims the building would have to be empty for the constructions. Let us remember how Diakonie acted during the “negotiations” about the eviction of the protest camp at Oranienplatz. The so-called “Kolat Agreement” of April 2014 which was supported by Diakonie was a fake promise. The refugees who left Oranienplatz were kicked out of Diakonie residences after less than half a year.
Furthermore, the letter refers to the roof protest of summer 2014 and the “agreement” between the school residents and the district. It claims the agreement was made under pressure to prevent “escalation” and would give the people from the school no legal right to stay in the school. Claiming that the district budget is frozen since September 2014, the “bad financial situation” caused by security guards, energy costs and maintenance, not to mention the ten days police blockade (which costed 5 million Euros) serves as a justification for the urgence of an immediate reaction.
Besides the fact that the letter is written in a bureaucratic, cynical, and ridiculous language, it only picks out selected arguments and misses the following crucial points entirely: in November the local court of Tempelhof-Kreuzberg gave right to the injunctions of two refugees, residents of the school, to stay in it by referring to the agreement of July. What we see here, is clearly the same tactics and political logic in conflict situations with political opponents by the district as applied by the senate in the aftermath of the Kolat agreement. The Green Party as well as the Christian Democrats use arbitrary argumentation and turn the accusation upside down - a typical rhetoric and racist practise. What is more, the district stands in line with other state instiutions arguing with a bad budgetary situation when it comes to the basic needs of under- and non-privileged people or collectives.
We will not allow them to divide us and to turn against each other! We have to stand together to be able to fight this political struggle!
There is the possibility to object this eviction order. Formally, it will not have a suspensive effect. So let´s get in on RIGHT NOW and support the people from the school!
Report from Oplatz.net