Seite - 80 - in Media – Migration – Integration - European and North American Perspectives

Petra Herczeg | Migrants and Ethnic Minorities in Austria 80 In the autumn of 2007, a large-scale debate on integration arose among the general public and in the media when refugees who had been living in Austria for several years were to be deported. Laws on foreigners require the deportation of asylum seekers even if the processing of their applications has been going on for years. All members of the government agreed that there was no need to change the laws on foreigners and that no general right to permanent residence should be put into effect. The media reported that families who had been staying in Austria for years were to be split up and deported. The refugees involved were described as well-integrated and, together with their children, as forming part of the community. The dominant viewpoint in mass media reports can be expressed with the headline: “Thousands in danger of being deported. Uncertainty a cause of anxiety for long-term asylum seekers” (Der Standard 5th Oct 2007). Individual cases have been portrayed in the mass media. On 3 October 2007, under the headline: “Deported” the Salzburger Nachrichten printed a photograph of the Milici family holding hands, with the six children lined up between their parents according to their age. The caption read: “The township of Peggau in Styria fought against the deportation of family Milici in vain. On Tuesday, the eight members of the family were deported. … According to mayor Werner Rois, in the past two years the members of the family had become fully integrated. Many of the co-residents are shocked that humanitarian aspects are not taken into consideration in such cases. On Monday, the mayor and other people from Peggau demonstrated in front of the centre for deportation in Vienna.” One case especially caught the attention of the mass media: Fifteen-year- old Arigona Zogaj went into hiding to avoid her impending deportation. Her father and brothers and sisters had already been deported; her mother had had a nervous breakdown and had been hospitalized. Arigona stated in a letter that she was in danger of committing suicide and that she would only resurface when her younger brothers and sisters had returned to Austria. In contrast to its usual anti-foreigner slant in reporting, even the tabloid Kronen Zeitung started a campaign supporting Arigona Zogaj. The publisher of the “Neue Kronen Zeitung”, Hans Dichand, wrote under his pen-name “Cato”: “Which of the politicians would dare to act this way? In this case, a condemned humanity must be given priority to the letter of the law” (Neue Kronen Zeitung 3rd Oct 2007). Arigona took an active role and sent a video from her hiding place with a message to the Austrian Minister of the Interior and to the general public. The video was broadcast by the ORF news programme “Zeit im Bild”. It shows a girl sitting against the wall of a bare room, looking directly into the camera and saying that she is very badly off and repeating that she is in danger of