As eviction looms over 400 residents, a hunger strike and international solidarity campaign seek to defend one of Europe’s most unique self-organised communities

In the heart of Athens, the Community of Squatted Prosfygika – home to more than 400 people from over 27 nationalities – is facing imminent eviction. What the authorities describe as “redevelopment” is, in reality, a familiar story: displacement, gentrification, and the erasure of a living community.

Since February 5, a member of the community has been on hunger strike. Others are preparing to join. Their demands are clear: cancel the contract by the Region of Attica, guarantee that all residents can remain in their homes, and allow the community to carry out its own restoration through self-organisation and self-financing – without public funds being diverted into profit-driven redevelopment.

Prosfygika is not abandoned. It is not unsafe. It is not a “ghetto”. These are myths used to justify eviction. In reality, it is a functioning example of what many in Europe claim is impossible: a neighbourhood organised through direct democracy, mutual aid, and solidarity. Residents have maintained the buildings themselves, created social housing, supported patients and families from nearby hospitals, and built over 20 self-organised structures – from cultural spaces to health initiatives.

For years, the community has resisted not only neglect but repeated repression. Police raids, chemical attacks, and intimidation have targeted residents – including children, the elderly, and the sick. Yet the community remains.

What is at stake is not only housing. It is the right to the city. It is the right of people to shape their own lives and neighbourhoods against the logic of profit.

Across Europe, we see the same pattern: public land handed to private interests, communities displaced, and social life replaced by speculation. Prosfygika stands as both an alternative and a warning.

The residents are calling for solidarity. A petition is gathering signatures. A Firefund campaign supports the community’s self-financed restoration. Every action matters.

Because if Prosfygika falls, it will not just be 400 people losing their homes. It will be the loss of a living example of collective dignity, resistance, and democracy.

DiEM25 stands in solidarity with the residents of Prosfygika and their just struggle. We call on our members and supporters across Europe to support their demands, amplify their voices, and help defend this community from eviction.

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