At this moment, only a few people know about the whereabouts of Sadiq (name changed), a 23-year-old Afghan refugee, who went into hiding when his asylum request was turned down by the Austrian government. He could be deported very soon. “There was no other way out. As long as the government is sending people back to Afghanistan, I am forced to hide myself. It really seems that these fascists do not care about human life,” he said, referring to the far-right elements within the new Austrian government.
Several key positions are held by members of the Freedom Party of Austria (FPÖ), a right-wing extremist party known for its racist, anti-Muslim and anti-refugee views. For example, Herbert Kickl, the Interior Minister, is notorious for the racist and anti-Semitic speeches he once wrote for far-right leader Jörg Haider. Haider was the FPÖ’s leading figure in the 1990s and early 2000s before he and his supporters formed a splinter party. In 2008, Haider died in a car accident. Mr. Kickl himself is well known for the party’s slogans such as ‘Daham statt Islam’ (‘Home, not Islam’). He also appears at events such as the ‘Defenders of Europe Congress’, when right-wing politicians, writers and activists from all over the world gather in Austria.
Dark times
As the Interior Minister, Mr. Kickl is pushing anti-refugee policies harshly. The government is reportedly planning to deport about 400 Afghans. “Many people fear deportation. They could not even sleep because they believe the police are going to smash the door in the next moment,” Mr. Sadiq said. His friends say the authorities are already looking for him. On social media, NGOs and refugee activists write that dozens of Afghan refugees have already been arrested. Many believe a big deportation wave is in the offing, maybe the biggest Austria has faced in recent history.
“We are living in dark times. They do not step back and really want to get rid of as many Afghans as possible, it seems,” said Sultan Ahmadi, 27, a refugee living in the town of Innsbruck. “I’m happy that my asylum request has been accepted before the far-right government came into power,” he said. Mr. Ahmadi arrived in Innsbruck more than six years ago, but his request for asylum was accepted last year.
Since the right-wing takeover, harsh measures against refugees, like confiscation of cash and mobile phones, have become part of daily practice. Additionally, medics who treat refugees could be forced to share everything that “appears to be important” with authorities, meaning that the right to privacy no longer applies to refugees in Austria.
The Interior Ministry has said that there won’t be any larger action against Afghan refugees. But Mr. Kickl himself has declared that deportations will pick up soon. Despite the deteriorating security situation in Afghanistan, several European countries continue to deport Afghan refugees.
More than 10,000 civilian casualties were documented in the country by the UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan in 2017. At least 3,438 civilians were killed. “The chilling statistics provide credible data about the war’s impact, but the figures alone cannot capture the appalling human suffering inflicted on ordinary people, especially women and children,” it said.
At the end of last year, the Amnesty International stated that European governments were forcing increasing numbers of Afghan asylum seekers back to the dangers from which they fled, “in brazen violation of international law”.
Emran Feroz is a freelance journalist based in Stuttgart
