Findings of Amnesty International Austria's research mission
Amnesty International's research mission at the Traiskirchen site has revealed serious breaches of standards at the reception centre for asylum seekers. Head of Amnesty International Austria, Heinz Patzelt, declared there was "structural failure".
"Traiskirchen is a symptom of systematic shortcomings in Austria's treatment of asylum seekers"
Overcrowding, insufficient medical and social care, avoidable administrative hurdles, delays in transfers to other centres and a particularly precarious situation facing children and adolescents who have come to Austria as unaccompanied children. These were the main findings made by a research
team from Amnesty International Austria who inspected the reception centre on Thursday 6 August.. On Friday 14 August, the human rights organisation presented its findings to the general public.
"Self-inflicted systematic failure"
"Traiskirchen is the symptom of a far reaching failure of the federal state of Austria when dealing with asylum seekers", stated Heinz Patzelt, Secretary-General of Amnesty International Austria. The AI Austria chief was also adamant that the reception center Traiskirchen itself fails some of
the basic standards of housing of asylum seekers "Austria is neither in a state of financial difficulty, nor does it suffer from a scarcity of resources: the failure to supply adequate support to asylum seekers is avoidable and seems to be mainly the result of administrative issues," stated Mr
Patzelt. He was also convinced that much could be done to create a system that protects the human rights of asylum seekers without injecting huge sums of money. "It is unnecessary and harmful, for example, to give a 12-year-old boy a bed in a room far away from his father, which results in
both preferring to sleep outside rather than be separated."
Daniela Pichler, head of the AI research team, reported a severe lack of accommodation and extremely long queues. "At the time of our visit in Traiskirchen roughly 1,500 people have to spend the night outside, and this figure doesn't include those who are sleeping rough outside the grounds of
the reception centre. This situation is unacceptable," stated Ms Pichler. The Amnesty expert also reported that asylum seekers, among them pregnant women and mothers with babies, are often forced to queue up in the blazing heat to receive their ID cards. "A simple numbered ticket system would
already be a significant improvement." The situation is particularly precarious for children and adolescents who arrive in Austria as unaccompanied refugees. Ms Pichler stated: "They are not adequately taken care of. Many of them become and remain homeless."
Insufficient medical care, unhygienic sanitary facilities
Siroos Mirzaei, a medical expert who was also part of the Amnesty research team, reported insufficient medical assistance. "Very often, patients must wait for a long time, sometimes even for days, until they receive a medical exam. This can cause serious medical complications," the physician
stated. There are four physicians on site who can only attend to sick refugees for a few hours per day, and they spend most of their time conducting general examinations during the refugee registration process.
The research team found the shower and toilet facilities at the reception centre in a terrible state as far as hygiene was concerned. "We sometimes found excrement floating around," Mr Mirzaei reported.
End homelessness now
Amnesty International has now drafted a number of demands which should be implemented as soon as possible to improve conditions for refugees. Apart from the urgently required restructuring of the allocation and accommodation system to immediately eliminate homelessness at the reception centre
for asylum seekers in Traiskirchen, Amnesty International is calling for adequate medical care to be provided which must respect the human rights of refugees. People who are particularly vulnerable, such as victims of torture, individuals with poor health, pregnant women or the elderly, should
be given greater attention. Amnesty International calls for immediate assistance to unaccompanied minor refugees that is tailored to suit their age, as well as the appointment of a legal guardian who can protect their interests.
Refugee management must protect human rights - not be led by chaos
Mr Patzelt stated: "Austria is currently not in line with basic human rights standards when it comes to the housing and processing of asylum seekers. Our national and local governments have to take immediate steps to end largely administrative failures that result in homelessness and change to
an approach, that is focused on protecting the rights of asylum seekers, especially those of unaccompanied children and minors".
Lees het Duitstalige rapport.