Migration pact: Schönborn criticizes the government

Migration pact: Schönborn criticizes the government

VIENNA. Release of the UN pact on migration for Cardinal "questionable".

Cardinal Schönborn wants the countries themselves to decide the right to stay in Germany Image: APA / Erwin Scheriau

The decision of the federal government not to support the United Nations pact on migration, considered one of the few countries in the world, could now accommodate critics of the highest ecclesiastical authority. "The problem of migration is a global problem and it is at least questionable to believe that this can only be solved in Austria," said Cardinal Christoph Schönborn on Sunday at the ORF.

"We can not do anything ourselves, we can only work and build strong ties with our neighbors," said the president of the Austrian Bishops' Conference.

Schoenborn was also affected by the fate of the young Iran-Armenian family in his home country, Vorarlberg, whose (planned) deportation recently caused a sensation throughout Germany. The mother, five months pregnant, had to seek treatment for gynecological treatment in the hospital as a result of a collapse that she suffered during the official act of the police . The husband and son were nevertheless brought to Vienna, from where they must be deported together after the recovery of the woman.

"Outraged by this affair"

The family with a negative asylum decision lived for five years in Sulzberg, in the Bregenz Forest, and is considered an exemplary integrated model. "I feel very good with my compatriots in Vorarlberg, who are outraged by this affair," Schönborn said. Because if a family is so well integrated, "it would be a waste for Austria not to keep it here." Therefore, in this case, the "human right of residence" must be used.

The cardinal joined the request of provincial governors, Markus Wallner (Vorarlberg, VP) and Peter Kaiser (Carinthia, SP), to confer jurisdiction for the granting of humanitarian law to remain in the hands of Federal states. "Of course, you should give them a meaningful word," said the Archbishop of Vienna as part of the ORF's "High House" program.

Schoenborn is skeptical of Interior Minister Herbert Kickl (FP) 's plans to provide legal advice to asylum seekers at a federal agency to be transferred and thus to his home. In Austria, the practice of cooperation between civil society and state organizations has proved its worth.

View Comments »