Rising Crime in Austria Fuels "Law & Order" Policies

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 VIENNA 000763 SIPDIS SENSITIVE E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PREL PGOV PHUM AU PREF KCRM ASEC SUBJECT: Rising Crime in Austria Fuels "Law & Order" Policies Ref: Vienna 721 ¶1. (U) SUMMARY: Crime, especially burglaries and thefts, has risen conspicuously in Austria in recent years. The police, the press and politicians blame foreigners, particularly asylum seekers and foreign gangs, for this increase. While the conservative parties have had the most vehement response, the coalition government is also supporting "law & order" policies including tighter immigration laws. The most notable of these is the proposed asylum law which would significantly increase the number of immigrants being detained and deported. Concern about crime is also undermining support for development of a common EU immigration/asylum policy and increasing calls, as yet on a limited basis, for re-establishment of border controls. END SUMMARY. Poll Reveals Public Angst -------------- ¶2. (U) A recent poll by the respectable IMAS institute (sample of 1,070) found that 77 percent of Austrians believe crime has increased over the past decade. Almost half say they have personally been a crime victim at least once. In what may be a politically explosive finding, 63 percent of respondents believe the rising crime rate is a direct result of immigration (and/or Austria's asylum policies). A disproportionately high number of conservative FPO voters (77 percent) feel Austria is importing crime with its immigration policies, while only 35 percent of Green voters hold this view. Two high-profile killings in Vienna in past months - the murder of a Sikh guru in a Vienna temple, and the public killing of a Chechen exile, have further exacerbated the linkage between crime and immigrants. Crime Statistics Back Fears -------------- ¶3. (U) Actual crime statistics support the public's perception about the rise in thefts, but not about crime in general, and about the connection between immigration and crime. According to Eurostat, while total crime in Austria increased 10 percent between 1998 and 2007, domestic burglaries increased 70 percent and robberies increased 125 percent. According to 2008 Austrian police statistics, roughly one third of all crime suspects were foreigners. One police official told journalists that burglaries in Vienna are nearly exclusively committed by foreigners and that about 40% of suspects are members of Georgian gangs with the remaining 60% coming predominantly from the former Yugoslavia and Romania. Officials also stress, however, that these foreign suspects are predominantly "crime tourists" rather than immigrants living in Austria. However, because suspects are caught in only 5% of burglaries, the above-mentioned statistics may not give the full picture. ¶4. (U) Critics argue the rising crime figures are the result of a misguided streamlining of Austria's police forces from 2000-2008. During this period the center-right coalition government abolished 4,000 police jobs. In an effort to partially redress this cutback, the current SPO-OVP coalition pledged in its government agenda to put 1,000 more police back onto the streets over the next four years. But experts note this is clearly not enough to compensate for the earlier cutback and to tackle the burgeoning crime rate. Political Reaction: Fewer Immigrants & Tighter Borders -------------- -------------- ¶5. (U) In an effort to demonstrate political leadership on law-and-order issues, OVP Interior Minister Maria Fekter in mid-June submitted a more restrictive asylum policy package to parliament. Under the new legislation, putting asylum applicants in detention pending deportation would become much easier. It stipulates that asylum applicants who should have filed their application in another Schengen country ("Dublin cases") should be put in detention pending deportation, and that asylum seekers who are charged with a crime can be deported immediately (instead of waiting until they are convicted). Representatives of international organizations, from the Council of Europe to UNHCR, have criticized the proposal, arguing that it would trigger "mass detentions pending deportation" lasting for up to 6 months while waiting for the responsible EU country to take over the case. Austrian constitutional law experts have pointed out that the deportation of asylum seekers suspected, rather than convicted, of a crime, would violate international law as well as the Austrian constitutional principle of "in dubio pro reo" ("in doubt, in favor of the accused"). Nevertheless, legislators are expected to approve the new policy in July, which will take effect January 1, 2010. ¶6. (U) The growing unease over crime has been a boon to the populist far-right. In an effort to exploit popular anger over rising crime, the self-styled law-and-order parties FPO and its spin-off BZO have called for the reintroduction of border checks at Austria's eastern and south-eastern borders. FPO leader Heinz Christian Strache has also suggested detention centers for asylum seekers at the Schengen borders in order to process asylum applications there. Austria's mainstream parties dismissed that call as "silly" and "unrealistic." VIENNA 00000763 002 OF 002 However, contrary to their earlier plans, both the moderate SPO and OVP ended up agreeing to extend the Austrian army's year-long border policing mandate for yet for another 12 months. This border policing role of Austrian recruits along the borders with Slovakia and Hungary has become anachronistic - if not offensive -as Hungary and Slovakia joined the EU in 2004. ¶7. (U) These moves, coming in addition to the xenophobic rhetoric used by the FPO during the recent European Parliament elections, are sparking a counter-reaction among liberals, particularly the Greens, who demonstrated this week for "civil courage" and against anti-Semitism and anti-Islamism. ¶8. (SBU) Comment: The response to rising crime -- and the fear of rising crime -- is not only a matter of domestic concern. It has already affected Austria's relations with its eastern neighbors, as noted. In addition, the decision to continue the military border security operation may well use up the funds that would otherwise go to Austria's overseas peacekeeping deployments. At the EU level, the crime issue has led Interior Minister Fekter to reject recent European Commission and Parliament proposals for a common European asylum policy (largely out of concern that it would change the existing Dublin rules in a way that would limit Austria's ability to deport migrants to other EU countries). While the government parties reject re-introducing border controls, pressure in that direction could well grow absent a demonstrable reduction in crime. End Comment. ORDWAY