Teenager’s Message Sparks Deportation Debate in Austria

By Brent Surgeoner
Impunity Watch Senior Desk Officer, Europe

The Austrian Parliament was forced to rethink its deportation policies after a 15-year-old from Kosovo ran away from authorities and sent suicide letters to the media following the denial of her family’s asylum request.

Arigona Zogaj, her parents and her four siblings had been living in Frankenberg for a few years after being smuggled into the country by human traffickers.  However, on September 26 they were deported and she went on the lam, evading authorities for two weeks.

During that time she sent video-tapes to the media in which she threatened to kill herself if her family was not allowed to return.  The Austrian public was shocked by the messages and urged their politicians to do something about the issue.

On Tuesday, 5,000 demonstrators led by the Green Party protested Austria’s strict immigration laws in the streets of Vienna.

Austria’s immigration laws were newly revamped in 2005 to incorporate the rise in xenophobia as espoused by the rising right-wing party, the Freedom Party.

The effect of the laws has been a drop in asylum claims from 39,000 in 2002 to 13,000 by 2006.

However, the laws have been criticized by many as being too harsh.  Human rights groups have referred to the laws as “inhumane”  and UN Refugee Agency, UNHCR, has alleged that the laws violate the Geneva convention.

Now, prompted by Zogaj’s dramatic measures and the Green Party, the Austrian Parliament has begun to debate their immigration laws.  On Wednesday, the Green Party forced a vote of no confidence against Interior Minister Guenther Platter – the man responsible for enforcing the immigration laws.

The vote of no confidence was unsuccessful, as was the Green Party’s proposal to grant amnesty to immigrants who have successfully integrated into Austrian society.

Other proposals are still being considered but the parties in the ruling coalition - Austrian People’s Party and the Social Democrats – appear unwilling to step back from their tough immigration stance.

As for Arigona Zogaj, she was placed in the care of a local priest after meeting with Upper Austrian governor Josef Puehringer on Tuesday.

Interior Minister Platter said, for now, the girl and her mother would remain in Austria.  Arigona’s mother suffered a nervous breakdown after her daughter ran away and has been allowed to recover in Austria.

For more information, please see:

International Herald Tribune - Austrian Parliament debates deportations - 10 October 2007

Reuters - Austrians protest ejection of "integrated" foreigners - 9 October 2007

EUX.TV - FEATURE: Teenager triggers asylum debate in Austria - 10 October 2007

Times Online - Teenage suicide threat prompts national asylum-seeker debate – 11 October 2007

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