{"id":4273,"date":"2016-03-07T10:00:30","date_gmt":"2016-03-07T05:00:30","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/immigrationexperts.pk\/?p=4273"},"modified":"2016-03-07T10:00:30","modified_gmt":"2016-03-07T05:00:30","slug":"austrian-expatriates-in-greece-condemn-vienna-over-refugee-crisis","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/immigrationexperts.pk\/austrian-expatriates-in-greece-condemn-vienna-over-refugee-crisis\/","title":{"rendered":"Austrian expatriates in Greece condemn Vienna over refugee crisis"},"content":{"rendered":"

Greece\u2019s Austrian community has issued a withering denunciation of Vienna\u2019s strongarm approach to the refugee crisis, describing it as \u201ccallous\u201d and deeply embarrassing for the country\u2019s citizens abroad.<\/p>\n

In an open letter to the government, an English-language version of which has been passed to the Observer<\/em>, prominent Austrians long connected with Greece appeal to their nation\u2019s coalition government to assume a more responsible role in handling Europe\u2019s refugee crisis.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Austrian government needs to understand that individual, national approaches fail to produce results,\u201d the signatories, including academics, archaeologists, teachers and retirees, write. \u201cSolitary advances contradict the basic tenets of the European programme, which is meant to serve as the foundation for a new generation.\u201d<\/p>\n

In an extraordinary about-turn that has seen it break ranks with Berlin, Vienna has led a charge to reintroduce border controls that has effectively sealed the Balkan migration route. By Saturday, closure of the corridor had trapped around 32,000 migrants and refugees in Greece, with more than a third of them stranded at the Macedonian border, where a state of emergency was declared.<\/p>\n

The situation arose after Austria \u2013 imposing a cap on the number of refugees it would accept \u2013 held a mini-summit of eastern European and Balkan states in which it was agreed that restrictions would be tightened to stem immigration.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe callous reaction of the Austrian government, one of the richest countries in the world, puts us to shame,\u201d the letter says. \u201cWe are deeply embarrassed by the confused, shortsighted \u2018vision\u2019 that the Austrian government hysterically chose to impose on the western Balkans.\u201d<\/p>\n

Greece, which was excluded from the mini-summit, should also have been able to attend \u201cto make her voice heard and present the facts on the ground\u201d, the letter says.<\/p>\n

The expatriates, many of whom have lived in Greece for decades and in less heated times are the first to criticise their adopted homeland\u2019s failings, accuse Vienna of pursuing neo-nationalistic policies that have \u201cno place\u201d in the Europe of the 21st century. While the burden of managing the crisis has fallen to impoverished, debt-ridden Greece, they say, Austria has distorted the truth, misrepresenting the number of refugees it has taken in since men, women and children fleeing conflict in the Middle East and poverty elsewhere began to pour into Europe.<\/p>\n

\u201cAustrian politicians have claimed that our country has accepted more refugees than most others. But a glance at the facts from Europe\u2019s south proves this statement to be fatally wrong, misrepresenting the data.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Austrian People\u2019s party (\u00d6VP), the junior partner in Vienna\u2019s Social Democrat-led coalition, has long been infuriated by Athens\u2019s policy of \u201cwaving through\u201d migrants and refugees. Senior government figures including foreign minister Sebastian Kurz and interior minister Johanna Mikl-Leitner, both members of the conservative \u00d6VP, have argued for the need to build \u201ca European fortress\u201d and said that those who arrive in Greece should not be allowed to continue their journey north.<\/p>\n

But in the letter, the expatriates argue that, unlike landlocked Austria, Greece has the longest shoreline in Europe \u2013 a vast maritime border that is impossible to manage. \u201cIf Austria wishes to pursue unilaterally a \u2018complete barrage against refugees\u2019, our little country will be remembered as the trigger of a humanitarian catastrophe,\u201d they write.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe government of Austria justifies its reaction by admitting to being incapable of organising and administering a larger influx of refugees \u2026 While it is easy for a landlocked nation like Austria to barrage herself behind walls, such a policy of avoidance is impossible for a country comprising over 2,000 islands and with a coastline of almost 14,000km.\u201d<\/p>\n

Greece, they say, has not only been assigned the role of henchman \u2013 overseeing Europe\u2019s \u201cbarbed wire politics\u201d \u2013 but is being asked to do so at a time when, after six years of navigating its worst economic crisis in modern times, it is on its knees.<\/p>\n

\u201cNow the Greek state is supposed to master a situation that would far surpass what Austrian authorities are able to shoulder,\u201d the letter continues. \u201cWe appeal to the Austrian government to act reasonably, use common sense judgment and apply the principles of human rights \u2026<\/p>\n

\n

\u201cShort-sighted neo-nationalism should have no place in the Europe of the 21st century. This is the least we owe to our historic past.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

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Greece\u2019s Austrian community has issued a withering denunciation of Vienna\u2019s strongarm approach to the refugee crisis, describing it as \u201ccallous\u201d and deeply embarrassing for the country\u2019s citizens abroad. In an open letter to the government, an English-language version of which has been passed to the Observer, prominent Austrians long connected with Greece appeal to their […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":4274,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"image","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[61],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4273","post","type-post","status-publish","format-image","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-austria-immigration-news","post_format-post-format-image"],"yoast_head":"\nAustrian expatriates in Greece condemn Vienna over refugee crisis - Immigration Experts<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/immigrationexperts.pk\/austrian-expatriates-in-greece-condemn-vienna-over-refugee-crisis\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Austrian expatriates in Greece condemn Vienna over refugee crisis - Immigration Experts\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Greece\u2019s Austrian community has issued a withering denunciation of Vienna\u2019s strongarm approach to the refugee crisis, describing it as \u201ccallous\u201d and deeply embarrassing for the country\u2019s citizens abroad. 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