They demanded name-brand goods and a house in Vienna

Voice Of Europe
May 11th, 2018

The retired Austrian teacher Franz Schmalwieser wanted to do something good at the height of the refugee crisis in 2015. He was interviewed by Wochenblick about his work with refugees and he now sharply criticises the “asylum industry”.

Schmalwieser took care of four asylum-seeker families at the mayor’s request. He was their coordinator, fundraiser, German teacher and he also gave cycling lessons to the families.

His eyes were opened one day as the family was searching through free clothes they had received from the Austrian people. While they browsed through them, Schmalwieser heard often: “Franz, that’s nothing, let’s go shopping. It should be name-brand.”

These sorts of situations changed a lot Schmalwieser said: Volunteers stayed away and finally the donations stopped. The people felt exploited.

According to Schmalwieser asylum seekers knew beforehand exactly what they should receive: “He showed me what he ‘should have’ with us: as an adult with 2 children, it is 1,400 euros per month,” an asylum seeker told him.

Others rejected houses because they demanded to live in Vienna: “Another family declined a nice house offered by Diakonie in St. Martin. She too wanted to go to Vienna. Another Syrian family wanted to optimise their situation. Although well integrated and encouraged, they moved to Vienna and left the helpers disappointed,” he says.

Schmalwieser no longer takes part in the ‘refugee welcome committee’. He concludes that many leftists are “unrealistic” and they “do not understand what they are doing to the state”.

This article was posted: Friday, May 11, 2018 at 6:35 am