1988. május (109-137. szám) / HU_BFL_XIV_47_2
/ <<K<2NSARIAK ©m£ Editor: György Krassó * 24/D Little Russell Street ‘ London. WC1A 2HN » Tel. 01-430 2126 (írom abroad 441-430 2126) 137/1988 (E) 30th May, 1988 Deportation Threatens Hungárián Refugees in Austria The Austrian Minister of Home Affairs, Kari Blecha, announced in a press conference in Vienna at the beginning of May that the proceedings dealing with applications fór asylum from Hungárián and Polish refugees will be speeded up and that the máj őrity of them will nőt be accepted. The announcement reflects the Hungárián govemment’s pol- itical and the Austrian govemment’s economic interests and was given prominence in the Hungárián papers who emphasised that Polish and Hungárián refugees were nőt judged to be "political refugees" and that "economic refugees" cannot be supported by the Austrian govemment. Those who have applied fór asylum have fallen intő a kind of trap. Contrary to previous practice they do nőt récéivé benefit or work permits and if it can be proved that they engaged in "black" work they are threatened with deportation. The minister alsó said that they would try to convince those awaiting asylum to retum to their respective countries bút as a last resort "deportation might alsó take piacé". In Hungary eleven members of different groups within the Democratic Opposition sent a letter to the Austrian Minister of Home Affairs and to an Austrian representative of "Amnesty International" in whieh they protested against the new practice of dealing with refugees which - as they wrote - undermines the traditional friendship between our two nations and the generál Hungárián sympathy towards democratic countries. The letter states that "the Austrian Minister of Home Affairs’s decision backs up communist propaganda which maintains that no one in our country is persecuted and thus no oneis forced to defect fór political reasons.". Bút the facts show that there are a great number of people who are politically harassed. In Austria these political reasons are nőt examined deeply enough, the vulnerable situation of the applicants is exploited and manipulation is employed during the hearings. Last year and the first quarter of this year there were over ten thousand Hungárián refugees going to Austria, surely this is a serious indictment of so-called Hungárián liberalism and of heedless reforms. It alsó mentions that all those political refugees who have retumed to Hungary are threatened with fines, passport withdraval and job loss and all that being registered with the state security agencies entails. Finally the signatories draw attention to the fact that it is nőt impossible that the self-organization of Hungárián society will be violently checked and that in this tense and contradictory situation the Austrian decision has grave consequences. ✓f f Subscribers can use or quote the Hungárián October newsletters in totál or in detail as long as the source is acknowledged.
