Far Right Austria Govenor Isolated Asylum Seekers
Far-right Austria governor isolates asylum seekers
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By VERONIKA OLEKSYN, Associated Press Writer
Tue Oct 7, 7:01 PM ET
VIENNA, Austria - Far-right Gov. Joerg Haider has set up a facility in the remote mountains of southern Austria to handle asylum seekers suspected as criminals, saying they need to be isolated to protect the people in the area.
Haider gained international prominence in 1999 when the Freedom Party, which he then headed, took 27 percent of the vote in Austria's parliamentary elections. The party's subsequent inclusion in the government led to months of European Union sanctions over Haider's statements, which were seen as anti-immigrant, anti-Semitic and sympathetic to Adolf Hitler's labor policies.
Haider is now governor of Carinthia province and his regional government set up the facility for asylum seekers, which sits in a secluded pasture in the mountains of southern Austria at an altitude of about 3,900 feet.
"With this security precaution, we are protecting the Carinthian population," Haider told a news conference Monday. He said the number of criminal asylum seekers was on the rise.
Haider has a history of taking a strong stand on asylum seekers, saying criminals among them drain the country's resources and should be expelled.
Human rights experts expressed concern about the holding facility on Tuesday.
"The whole thing sounds strongly like banishment," said Heinz Patzelt, head of Austria's chapter of Amnesty International. "There's no place for that in a modern system with a rule of law."
Haider's spokesman Stefan Petzner said no one's rights were being violated.
"It's a perfectly normal establishment far away from civilization in a secluded area so they can't get up to anything," said Petzner. "You shouldn't think of this as a prison surrounded by barbed wire."
He said that the asylum seekers were allowed to move about freely on the premises but were being monitored.
The holding center in a former children's home is only for asylum seekers suspected as criminals. But Petzner said conviction was not a "mandatory prerequisite" for being sent there.
The building has the capacity to hold 50 but currently houses five men and has been in use for about a week. Petzner confirmed media reports saying the five came from Georgia, Kazakhstan and Gambia. He did say some in the group had been convicted, but did not say of what.
Petzner said residents would be "under constant observation so that no criminal acts can be committed."
Austria's government largely leaves it up to individual provinces how to handle asylum seekers. Many around the country live independently or in other facilities where they are free to come and go. Carinthia currently has about 900 asylum seekers in total.
Roland Schoenbauer, officer-in-charge of the Vienna branch of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, said his office had asked Carinthian authorities to provide details about the conditions in the facility and those working there.
Schoenbauer also criticized the practice — by Haider and others — of associating asylum seekers with crime.
"The repeated and constant linkage of asylum seekers with crime by leading politicians is extremely worrying as it leads to a general criminalization of asylum seekers in public and undermines the integration of those who get refugee status," he said.
Haider now heads another far-right party, the Alliance for the Future of Austria, and he has toned down his rhetoric but still retains a strong following.
In last month's elections, Haider's party received 10.7 percent and the far-right Freedom Party gained 17.5 percent of the vote. The combined results — 28.2 percent — placed the parties on nearly equal footing with the Social Democrats, who came in first place with 29.3 percent.
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