Drasenhofen – asylkoordination: Accommodation of a "prison camp"

Lower Austria has violated the internment of refugee children against international law, said Thursday on television. The rights of children would be trampled.

"Underage asylum seekers are brought on the order of the Provincial Council in a district on the Czech border and are virtually under house arrest," said Anny Knapp, head of Asylkoordination. The accommodation was "in the middle of nowhere", more than two kilometers from the village of Drasenhofen, populated by a thousand inhabitants, and "fenced".

According to Asylkoordination, an affected person informed the Austrian concierge of the circumstances of his accommodation: she was only allowed to move freely around the house and not to leave the premises. Not even shopping such as It is possible to buy cigarettes. Even going to the garden is forbidden without permission and escorted by a security worker. Apart from card games, there is no occupation in the house.

"We are seeing the well-being of children in Drasenhofen seriously threatened"Asylkoordination

Residents were also prohibited from contacting a television crew that had conducted on-site searches. Another teenager reported one hour of "outing" a day. The asylkoordintion to: "It's not even enough to walk in the center of Drasenhofen and come back." According to Google Maps, a walk takes 33 minutes in one direction.

This raises the question of whether such conditions do not meet the facts of unlawful imprisonment. On the part of asylum NGOs and refugees' reference persons, it is envisaged to introduce a factual representation to the prosecutor's office.

Call for closure

The Asylum Coordination also noted that legally, according to Waldhäusl, "unaccompanied minor refugees having a legally negative asylum decision" and persons "who have been perceived as notorious troublemakers in "other dwellings" are legally limited to a maximum of one district restriction to an administrative district. "De facto internment is in no way justified."

Asylkokoordination therefore asked the provincial government of Lower Austria to close the neighborhood immediately and bring the youth back to their previous home. "We find that the welfare of children in Drasenhofen is seriously threatened," wrote the organization. The service of children and young people must "intervene immediately".