Dozens of Eindhoven students protested Wednesday night in a playful way against the housing shortage in the city. They did so by spending the night in the Lab-1 cinema.
So symbolically, to make a statement to the city government, they slept in a movie theater. “Especially many foreign students are homeless. The housing shortage must end,” said one of the activists. “Affordable housing for everyone. That is a task of the government. That is why we are here so that something happens.”
Building
“The need is acute. We are building houses, like on the TU/e campus. But it’s still too slow. We are trying to do all kinds of things about it,” said Alderman for Housing Mieke Verhees in response to the protest. Accurate figures on exactly how big the problem is in Eindhoven could not be given by Verhees. “We now think there are one hundred to two hundred acute cases of students looking for accommodation.”
Sleeping in tent
Some students are finding it very difficult to get a room. Some of them are sleeping in tents or on the couch with acquaintances. Two female students who previously told their story of being forced to sleep in a tent were also present at the protest.
Source: Studio040
Translation: Chaitali Sengupta. She also gives online INBURGERING classes.
