The deportation—to Georgia and Armenia—of three families with minor children from Austria has caused a political scandal, EurAsia Daily reports.
Three families—including three teenagers who went to school in Vienna and Lower Austria—were deported from Austria to Georgia and Armenia yesterday. The deportation of minors has provoked the protest of people who know the families. Around 160 people protested in Vienna near the detention center where the detainees were being held. Police had to disperse the demonstrators who had blocked street with shopping carts and waste tanks.
The media sensibly escalated the deportation by taking close-up photos of the frightened children. In addition, due to technical problems, the teenagers spent three hours on the bus transporting the detainees, before being taken to the airport.
"While you were sleeping, three children spent three hours in a deportation bus; dogs and hundreds of policemen outside," Florian Klenk, editor-in-chief of the Vienna’s Falter magazine, tweeted.
The deportation of these students has also caused disagreements within the Austrian ruling coalition. Vice Chancellor Werner Kogler from the Green Party stated: "There is no legal obligation, especially in the pandemic conditions, to deport students who grew up here in Austria and are well integrated. We all have a political obligation to remain human.”
However, Interior Minister Karl Nehammer of the Austrian People's Party spoke in favor of the measure. "This is a decision of the Supreme Court, which has been reviewed several times, and the police must implement it," he said.
Mittagsjournal reports on the details of one of the deported Georgian families, which has a 12-year-old. In 2015, the family applied for asylum for the first time, but it was rejected. Meanwhile, the family continued to live in Austria. The Federal Administrative Court clarified that the long-term residence of the family was motivated by the fact that the migrants persistently opposed the formal demands, appealing the decisions.
It got to the point where the President of Austria, Alexander van der Bellen, had to comment on the situation. "I cannot and will not believe that we live in a country where it is really necessary in that way. I'm deeply shocked. We need to find a way to interact humanely and respectfully with each other, especially when the main victims are the children."