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25 attacks on refugee facilities last year in Austria

The Local Austria
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25 attacks on refugee facilities last year in Austria
Protest against refugee home opening in Vienna. LISI NIESNER/EPA

Asylum facilities in Austria came under attack 25 times last year, including being set on fire and refugees being shot at with an air gun.

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The number of attacks was revealed following a data request made to the Interior Ministry by the Green party justice spokesperson Albert Steinhauser.

Incidents took place in all but one of the country’s provinces, with Burgenland witnessing no attacks and Carinthia seeing the most with seven.

Some of the worst incidents involved refugees being shot at with an air rifle in Wiener Neustadt and Nazi propaganda being posted up in facilities in Hohenems and Wolfurt in Vorarlberg.

Other attacks involved arson and firecrackers and fireworks being set off.

In most cases the culprits are not found, something that Steinhauser says must change.

“If we in Austria don’t want to have the same conditions as in Germany, it will be crucial to massively increase the number of crimes solved,” he said, adding that only then will it be clear that crime against asylum seekers is taken seriously.

Over the weekend, asylum accommodation in Tyrol became the latest to come under attack after a stink bomb was set off and flyers and banners carrying anti-asylum messages were found nearby.

Police say they are investigating the incident at the accommodation in the village of Tarrenz where twelve asylum seekers are currently being housed.

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