Austria: 50% Of Suspects In Murder Cases Involving Women Are Asylum Seekers
ABD0005_20160504 - WIEN - STERREICH: Ein Mann hat in der Nacht auf Mittwoch, 4. Mai 2016 am Brunnenmarkt in Wien-Ottakring eine Frau brutal mit einer Eisenstange attackiert. Die 54-Jhrige erlitt massive Kopfverletzungen, sie starb noch an Ort und Stelle. Im Bild: Die Feuerwehr bei der Reinigung des Tatortes. - FOTO: APA/HERBERT P. OCZERET
Austrian Family Minister Juliane Bogner-Strauss revealed that in 2017, 50% of registered suspects involved in murders of women were foreigners.
“One has to take appropriate action,” Bogner-Strauss added but blamed men instead. “Patriarchal structures have not yet died out in Austria”.
The announcement came after a series of murders involving women which happened recently and were committed by asylum seekers.
High profile cases include 16-year-old Michelle F who was murdered in Steyr by an Afghan asylum seeker in December and 16-year-old Manuela K whose body was discovered under a pile of leaves by her mother in Wiener Neustadt earlier this month.
In the first half of 2018, overall crime has declined by ten percent under the conservative-populist coalition government of the Austrian People’s Party and the Freedom Party.
However, the government was alarmed by the fact that foreigners now make up 40 percent of all criminal suspects in Austria with the city of Vienna having the most foreign suspects at some 51.4 percent.
There has also been an increase in reported murder cases, from 33 last year to 34 during the same period in 2018.
Another crime that has gone up significantly has been the number of reported rapes.
In the first six months of 2017, 261 rape cases were reported, compared to 374 this year — an increase of 43.3 percent.
Austrian police is also concerned over the increase of knife crime incidents. They reported that the number of stabbings, especially during inter-ethnic conflicts have occurred frequently.
Earlier in 2018 several high-profile stabbings, including one where an Afghan migrant attacked an Austrian family while leaving a restaurant. The alleged stabber in the case later confessed that his reason for the attack was that he was having a “bad day”.
The incidents have prompted Interior Minister Herbert Kickl to look into reforming the asylum system in Austria.
Recent data shows that the current administration has carried out an average of 19 deportations per day.
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