Since the 22nd of April 2016 Hotel Plaza in Athens is occupied. On that day, activists and refugees joined action to squat an abandoned hotel in the northern center of Athens. The goal: To creat accomondation for refugees in dignity and run the hotel collectively. In this hotel it’s possible what the Greek state and the charity organisations have failed upon: Accomondation for hundreds of refugees, regardless of their status or nationality.
Hotel run collectively
The occupants of “Hotel Plaza”, as well as its new inhabitants, believe in a solution that is achieved collectively. So far, the hotel has kept on going well. All rooms have been cleaned and people have moved in. The kitchen is in use, and part of the dining hall has been turned into a children’s area, and detailed shift plans wait for people to sign in, be it security, cooking or cleaning. Still, daily assemblies are being held. Apart form finances and room issues, also the political strategies to argue for the maintenance of the hotel play a role.
Donate for safe accomodation for almost 400 people
Hotel City Plaza provides a safe and dignified accomondation to almost 400 refugees. It is hard to see so many more people coming to the hotel and asking for a room and seeking shelter. But the hotel is already full. To maintain the Hotel, you can support the struggle in donating for food, electricity, medication, cleaning devices and detergents. Account for donations
Verein zur Förderung antirassistischer Arbeit in Sachsen-Anhalt n.e.V.
IBAN: DE76 8005 3762 1894 0553 02
BIC: NOLADE21HAL
Reason for transfer: Hotel Plaza
On the 18th of November 2015, Slovenia closed its borders for refugees who are not from Syria, Afghanistan or Iraq. Just a little later, Croatia, Serbia and Macedonia also adopted this practice of segregation. There is little doubt about that this policy was pushed by the European Union as a starting point for slowing down or even stopping the flow over the Balkan route. Thousands of refugees were stuck in Eidomeni, Greece, and started to protest. The Moving Europe Bus was on the spot and reported live from the 22nd of November to the 11th of December 2015 – when the camp had been evicted. On the 5th of February 2016, we decided to restart our live-ticker as the new year has already seen several attempts from the European Union to slow down the migration movement towards Europe. Macedonia seems to become a key player in this strategy. For several weeks the Macedonian border authorities have slowed down the transit process. The predictable effect of this, given the high arrival numbers to the Greek islands, is that thousands are becoming stuck in Greece. On the 3th of February the Macedonian government announced its plans to strengthen border controls which will further reduce the speed of the transit process. In the meantime, the Greek authorities have established a new buffer zone near to Eidomeni. Since the camp at the border has already become highly overcrowded, there are fears that the violent scenes of last December in Eidomeni will be repeated. Therefore the authorities have decided that people should be kept at bay, at a gas station on the highway that is 20 km far away from the border (at Polykastro). For weeks migrants have had to stay there for hours under miserable conditions. Since the end of January the situation at the Greek border zone has escalated once more. There is only a trickle of people being let through to Macedonia and now people at the gas station have to wait for days before their buses finally leave towards the border. On the 3rd of February 2016 thousands of them decided not to wait any longer at the petrol station and started to walk towards the Macedonian border (#marchofhope 2). Further protests and tensions are to be expected. The Moving Europe Bus is on the spot since the 2nd of February and reports live from Polykastro and Eidomeni.
