Austria to Build Fence Along Parts of Border With Slovenia
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
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VIENNA — Austria, a strong critic of building of fences to keep out refugees, announced plans Wednesday to erect border barriers of its own, but insisted the move was aimed solely at bringing order to the river of people entering the country.
The announcement threatened to ignite a chain reaction along the land route in Eastern Europe used by those seeking a better life in prosperous European Union nations. Slovenia, the main entry point into Austria, also said it was ready to build a fence, while Hungary has been championing the success of its razor-wire border fences with Serbia and Croatia and plans another one with Romania.
Germany, the country of choice for many fleeing regions torn by war and hardship, also signaled its intention to reduce its load of asylum-seekers. Syrian citizens are mostly being accepted, but Interior Minister Thomas de Maiziere said many of the Afghans pouring into the country will likely be sent home.
“People who come to us as refugees from Afghanistan cannot all expect to be able to stay in Germany,” he said, adding that Afghans will be considered on a case-by-case basis.
In Austria, Interior Minister Johanna Mikl-Leitner told parliament that the construction of “technical barriers” would begin after about 10 days of planning but gave no exact date for the start of the project.
Speaking to state broadcaster ORF, Mikl-Leitner cited the need for a fence to maintain public order while Defense Minister Gerald Klug said containers or railings could be set up to “control the refugees in an orderly way.”
Mikl-Leitner insisted there were no plans “to build a fence around Austria.” Still the project is likely to run into domestic and international criticism for the signal it sends to other nations struggling to cope with tens of thousands of desperate people moving though their nations.
Since Hungary sealed its border with Serbia on Sept. 15, thousands of refugees have been flowing into Croatia and then Slovenia daily.
Slovenian officials, who say their small nation cannot cope with the influx, have warned for days they would take action if Austria or Germany tried to close off their borders.
Slovenian Prime Minister Miro Cerar firmed up those plans Wednesday.
“If necessary, we are ready to put up the fence immediately” if a weekend plan by EU and Balkan leaders fails to stem the migrant surge, he said.
The usually excellent relations between Germany and Austria have been strained in recent days, with Germany accusing Austria on Wednesday of dropping asylum-seekers near their border after dark without warning.
Mikl-Leitner acknowledged a possible effect on migrants in Slovenia if Austria built a border barrier — a situation she said Austria already is struggling to deal with “because Germany is taking too few.”
“People are marching toward Germany because they feel they are invited there,” she said, alluding to perceptions that German Chancellor Angela Merkel has suggested all who have a right to asylum are welcome.
Merkel has said European countries have a duty to protect those who have a right to shelter, but also that all countries must share the burden. About 577,000 people seeking asylum came to Germany from January to the end of September this year, 164,000 of them in September alone, authorities say.
De Maiziere, Mikl-Leitner’s German counterpart, said it was Austria’s fault that “refugees are driven to certain points without warning at the fall of darkness and then come to the German border without any preparation.”
“Austria’s behavior in recent days was out of line,” he said.
German police have sought to keep the number of people crossing the border to 50 per hour at each crossing, according to Bavarian authorities.
In recent days, new legislation has come into force in Germany that is aimed at making it easier to send home people who don’t qualify for asylum — a measure aimed primarily at citizens of Balkan nations such as Albania and Kosovo.
On Afghanistan, de Maiziere argued that Germany and other western nations have poured development aid into the country as well as sending troops and police to help train security forces there. He says Afghanistan’s government agrees with Berlin that citizens should stay and help rebuild the country.
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Geir Moulson in Berlin, Ali Zerdin in Ljubljana, Slovenia, and Jovana Gec and Dusan Stojanovic in Belgrade, Serbia, contributed to this report.
http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2015/10/28/world/europe/ap-eu-europe-migrants-.html
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« La primavera scorsa rincasavo da una passeggiata nei campi per la mia strada silenziosa e deserta quando mi colpì a terra una piccola macchia scura. Mi piegai e vidi una muta tragedia: un grosso scarafaggio giaceva sul dorso e si difendeva disperatamente con le zampette mentre tutto un mucchio di piccole formiche gli brulicavano attorno e se lo mangiavano ancora vivo! Rabbrividii, presi il fazzoletto e cominciai a scacciare le brutali bestioline. Ma esse erano così temerarie e testarde che dovetti lottare a lungo, e quando alla fine ebbi liberato il povero martire e lo ebbi deposto sull’erba, gli erano già state divorate due zampette. Andai via con la penosa sensazione di avergli in fondo prestato un servizio molto discutibile».
Rosa Luxemburg lettera a Sonja Liebknecht del 2 maggio 1917.
Ces pensionnaires de l’asile, victimes des harengs infects ou du tord-boyaux frelaté, qui sont-ils ? Un employé de commerce, un ouvrier du bâtiment, un tourneur, un mécanicien : des ouvriers, des ouvriers, rien que des ouvriers. Et qui sont ces êtres sans nom que la police n’a pu identifier ? Des ouvriers, rien que des ouvriers ou des hommes qui l’étaient, hier encore.
Et pas un ouvrier qui soit assuré contre l’asile, le hareng et l’alcool frelatés. Aujourd’hui il est solide encore, considéré, travailleur ; qu’adviendra-t-il de lui, si demain il est renvoyé parce qu’il aura atteint le seuil fatal des quarante ans, au-delà duquel le patron le déclare » inutilisable » ? Ou s’il est victime demain d’un accident qui fasse de lui un infirme, un mendiant pensionné ?
A l’asile de nuit Rosa Luxembourg