Erstellt am: 20. 8. 2015 - 15:53 Uhr
Traiskirchen: a personal journey.
Traiskirchen: a personal journey
Last week Amnesty International presented its report on the situation at the Traiskirchen reception centre for asylum seekers, amid claims of severe overcrowding and inadequate facilities.
Representatives from Amnesty were granted permission to visit Traiskirchen, to investigate media reports about the dire conditions there.
Amnesty Austria's General Secretary Heinz Pazelt said that the investigators uncovered major deficiencies, which he described as a human-rights scandal. He said Traiskirchen was a symbol for the complete failure of Austria's asylum policy.
Yesterday, President Heinz Fischer visited Traiskirchen's reception centre. He was joined by Chancellor Werner Faymann and other senior government officals. The main conclusion reached by the politicians at the end of that day’s visit was that something had to be done to help alleviate the situation for the refugees arriving there. Chancellor Faymann described conditions at the centre as unacceptable. Meanwhile, Interior Minister Johanna Mikl-Leitner sys she wants to put legal pressure on the EU Commission to change the asylum system to relieve those countries which are dealing with the most applications.
Alongside the thoughts of government officials and NGOs, there are many ordinary people across Austria who are extremely concerned about what they are hearing as regards Traiskirchen. People like Joanna Godwin-Seidl, who decided this week, in a private capacity, to see what she could do to help those in need. Gennie Johnson caught up with her and asked her why she had decided to help and what she did exactly.
Turkey heading into another election?
State media in Turkey is reporting Turkey's high election board has proposed holding a new election in November. This comes after efforts to form a government have so far failed. Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu abandoned efforts to build a coalition government, following the failure of talks with the leaders of two smaller parties.
The deadline for forming a new government ends this week. President Recep Tayyip Erdogan reportedly favours an early election hoping that the ruling party which he founded can regain the majority it lost in the June election. But what are the Turkish public making of all of this? For reaction to all of this we headed to Istanbul and spoke with our correspondent there, Dorian Jones.