Refugees in the Votive Church appeal to people: “Help us”
23rd January 2013, 14:42
Adalat Khan, Muhammad Numan and Di-Tutu Bukasa (front, from left to right) at a press conference on Wednesday. They draw attention once again to the precarious situation of asylum seekers in Austria.
The refugees have been protesting for weeks for structural changes and camping out in the Votive Church.
The hunger strike was suspended for ten days.
“The cold quickly sinks into your bones,” said a supporter of the protest on the sidelines of the press conference.
If there is no change of policy in the asylum system, the refugees want to go back on their hunger strike on 1 February.
The refugees in the Vienna Votivkirche want to resume their hunger strike on 1 February, if there is no compromise in policy. They demand structural changes in the asylum system, including a work permit during the asylum procedure. “These people come to this country to live, not to die,” said the lawyer Di-Tutu Bukasa at the press conference to break the month-long hunger strike on Wednesday.Demo and solidarity concert
“We do not blame the society; we want change,” said Khan Adalat, one of the refugees. It was clear to him that Austria had a good education, labor and social system. He appealed to the people, “We don’t want to disturb your system, but I plead with you: Help us.”
There will be opportunity for solidarity on Saturday afternoon during a demonstration in front of the Votive Church and at a solidarity concert on 30 January at WUK in Vienna.“We speak for the first time for ourselves”
Marissa Lobo spoke of a historical moment. She herself has the experience of migration and therefore supports the demands of the refugees: “For the first time we migrants are speaking for ourselves.” This is a unique opportunity to be perceived differently by the Austrian population. “We exist, we are visible,” said Muhammad Numan, one of the hunger strikers, to the journalists in the Votive Church.
Interior Minister rejects work permit after six months
Interior Minister Johanna Mikl-Leitner (ÖVP), meanwhile, reiterated that there will be no structural changes to the asylum system. She also refused the proposal by asylum and human rights organizations and SPÖ leader Josef Cap to grant work permits for asylum seekers after six months.
While refugees whose asylum is granted may work in Austria, during the long procedure there is a de facto ban on working. The Foreign Labour Act would indeed grant them a work permit and therefore legal work after three months. But that was limited to seasonal worker activities as harvesters and in tourism, by a decree from the Ministry of Economic Affairs.
Even Willi Resetarits, Honorary Chairman of the Integrationshaus, criticized the status quo. Since asylum procedures often last for years, long-term unemployment often leads to depression and lethargy. Asylum seekers can also lose their expertise.Korun criticizes handling of Pakistani refugees
The Green Party human rights spokeswoman Alev Korun said Wednesday in a press release that people in the Votive Church are trying to show deficiencies in the Austrian asylum system, and that people who have fled from Pakistan are currently receiving little protection from persecution.
“Let me remind you, Pakistan is the country where the Taliban recently shot the 14-year Malala Yousafzai in the head just because she wanted to go to school,” wrote Korun. That people fleeing the Taliban do not get asylum is part of the problem in the Votive Church. (Julia Schilly, derStandard.at, 01/23/2013)
Source (german): http://derstandard.at/1358304435343/Fluechtlinge-appellieren-an-Bevoelkerung-Helft-uns
