On Sunday February 13, 2022, the housing protest visited Leiden for the woonrevolutie (housing revolution). Jiska Ogier explain what happens when you are disabled or chronically ill and you don’t have a suitable place to live. The answer is simple… your condition gets worse while you wait. Watch or read her speech in Dutch here.
Your Local Pirates educate the young about squatting. Before they explained how to use a crowbar and a hammer they started with the a big shout out to all recent squads which reignite the fire. True, some are already closed, but that doesn’t mean they don’t reopen elsewhere soon:
- Kraaienest – Groningen
- Kroesepoesen – Utrecht
- Hotel Mokum – Amsterdam
- Villa Ivicke – Wassenaar
- Autonomous Student Struggle – Amsterdam
Enjoy Your Local Pirates, learn and sign along here.
Robbert Brouwer couldn’t join in person and Anna, the host, read his speech. There are plenty of songs about his situation. If you don’t have a fixed address and living with a lot of people in a shelter is a mental burden, you are out on the street… there is no help. The system can’t handle your situation. He got out of the situation and is doing fine. He puts his experience to good use as interviewer/researcher for the Prospective Research Social Welfare and Sheltered Housing project.
Read or listen to his speech here.
Klara explained the situation from an international student perspective. Leiden is no exception. In eighteen months she moved four times before finding a place she can call home. Is The Netherlands a country where we welcome everybody? Nope. You pay for your study, they might say thank you and that’s it.
Read her speech in Dutch or listen to her in English here.
Bo Salomons, representing the Bond Precaire Woonvormen, explained again how important it is to get organised. It doesn’t take a nation of millions to hold them back. Two people can write a letter, ten can prevent an eviction.
Read or watch his speech here.
Hard Voor Weinig warmed the crowd with a loud song, see link. It thought me that in sign language you can also express how loud something is.
Click on the photos to enlarge them
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