"Occupy Votivkirche": What should be done here ?

[Tender Branson]

Read this please:

Recently, people in Austria asked: "Where is the FPÖ ? What are they doing ?"

Answer: Stronach was stealing their issues.

But now they have found a fitting issue again to come back, because a bunch of asylum seekers mostly from Pakistan/Afghanistan decided to occupy the Votivkirche (a big Catholic Church) in Vienna and camp inside of it and go on hunger strike. This lasts for a few weeks now and the FPÖ is now gearing up and demanding that these people are force-fed, made transportable and deport them as soon as possible:

Votivkirche protest continues

Asylum seekers currently occupying the Votivkirche in Vienna, Austria, have now criticized the humanitarian organisation Caritas that has been supporting them.

Caritas has been trying to persuade the asylum seekers to move into better quality accommodation and out of the church.



The Interior Ministry has ended the talks with the asylum seekers. Meanwhile the FPÖ wants to press charges against the asylum seekers.

A group of asylum seekers are still on hunger strike in protest at the long winded asylum process and cramped conditions.



But the Interior Ministry has claimed from their part the discussions are closed.

Interior Minister Johanna Mikl-Leitner from the ÖVP put an end to the discussions claiming there will be no structural changes to the Austrian asylum system.

The Interior Ministry regrets that the asylum seekers could not bring an end to the action after the meeting, but no police action to remove the asylum seekers is planned as long as the Church refused to make a complaint.

Johann Gudenus from the FPÖ has threatened to press charges on the asylum seekers for decrying religious teachings, impending the practise of religion, failing to comply with laws, coercion and extortion.

Currently around 100 asylum seekers are sleeping in the Votivkirche and 35 are on hunger strike and plan to continue the strike until action is taken. Some are even refusing water.

Three are currently in hospital in the Austrian capital as a result.

Shortly after the latest meeting between Johanna Mikl-Leitner  and representatives of the asylums seekers on Wednesday, the asylum seekers made a renewed pledge to remain in the church and continue their hunger strike.

One of the asylum seekers claimed the hunger strike currently into its 13th day could last months or years - presumably meaning that others would join in.

They want a ban on deporting refugees and want the finger print data base deleted so that they can apply in other countries if rejected in Austria.

http://www.heute.at/news/politik/art23660,840956

http://viennatimes.at/news/General_News/2013-01-04/29056/Votivkirche_protest_continues_

[Tender Branson]

What do the owners of the church want?

The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Vienna owns it.

And the Vienna Archbishop Christoph Schönborn supports the asylum seekers and has no problems if they stay, because he said "the church always cares about people in need".

And he already visited them inside the Church and said that they did not "decry religious teachings and impend the practise of religion", like the FPÖ said.

[Tender Branson]

Then if they are behaving,  let them stay.

That is the question:

The FPÖ says that the interior of the Church where those 50 or so asylum seekers are sleeping and living for almost a month now is looking "like a trash can" and that the "smell of urin is everywhere".

But that's the FPÖ, so ...

Other than that, no laws have been broken by the asylum seekers. Unless you see the camping inside a church as a breaking of the law and "decrying religious teachings and impending the practise of religion", like the FPÖ said ...

[Tender Branson]

Victory for Pope-candidate Schönborn:

Asylum activists end protest in Vienna church

By Michael Shields

VIENNA (Reuters) – Dozens of refugees demanding changes to Austria’s asylum system ended a weeks-long occupation of a Vienna church on Sunday, defusing a standoff with authorities.

The activists took up an offer from Roman Catholic Cardinal Christoph Schoenborn – now in Rome for a conclave to elect a new Pope – and moved to a nearby abbey, the Catholic social charity Caritas said.

Around 40 refugees, some of them on hunger strike, had moved from a tent camp in a park into the Votive Church before the Christmas holidays in December.

“The church was an important place for our protest,” Adalat Khan, a spokesman for the refugees, said in a statement. “Now we are happy to continue our efforts to improve the conditions for the refugees and to provide a secure future for all in a new, open place and in a normal housing situation.”

Austria has ruled out changes to its asylum system, which officials said compared well with other European countries.

The refugees – mostly from Pakistan and Afghanistan – want the right to work while they are waiting, sometimes for years, to find out whether they can stay in Austria.

They also complain of overcrowding in Austria’s main refugee camp, the fact that they can be moved between camps without consultation and the fact that Austria keeps their fingerprints.

Asylum-seekers in Austria are allowed to seek seasonal work such as fruit harvesting after three months, but may not seek permanent employment until their asylum request is approved.

About 80 percent of asylum cases are resolved within eight months, the government has said.

The number of asylum applications in Austria rose 21 percent to 14,416 in 2011, government statistics show. Almost a quarter of applicants were from Afghanistan, followed by people from Russia, Pakistan and Somalia.

http://www.euronews.com/newswires/1841902-asylum-activists-end-protest-in-vienna-church/

[Tender Branson]

Austria today started to deport 8 of the "occupiers" from Pakistan - back to Pakistan.

Their asylum requests have been denied in all appeals processes and the Ministry of Interior people picked them up today and transported them to the Vienna Airport.

The deportation to Pakistan is within the law, because of an EU-deportation treaty with Pakistan, but the deportations have been met with protests from leftist groups.

The protesters also said that the (ÖVP-led) Interior Minister only deported them now because of the election campaign.

http://diepresse.com/home/panorama/oesterreich/1435550/AsylSuchende-werden-heute-abgeschoben

[Tender Branson]

12 more deportation requests for the Votivkirche asylum-occupants have been issued.

If Pakistan approves them, which is likely, they will be deported too in the next days.

Looks like Johanna Mikl-Leitner (Interior Minister-ÖVP) is pretty serious to get the people out of the country ahead of the election and follows in the footsteps of Maria Fekter (also ÖVP), who used massive police force to deport 8-year old children in the early morning hours, just ahead of the Vienna election 2010.