Freedom in Syria: Euphoria among refugees in Vorarlberg!

Freedom in Syria: Euphoria among refugees in Vorarlberg!

Large upheavals shake Syria! On Sunday, the Islamist group HTS took control of the capital Damascus and heralded the end of the rule of Bashar al-Assad. The pictures of happy residents who show their joy over the turn go around the world. In Vorarlberg, where around 5,000 Syrian refugees live, this historical moment is taken up with great relief and joy. Ghay's Kolaghasy, who has lived in Vorarlberg for three years, describes his feeling as overwhelming: "If it is only a dream, I don't want to wake up. It feels like this," he says about the current developments. Even the student Haya Zada ​​can hardly tame her feelings of happiness. She woke her parents at night to tell them about the Assad cresting and communicates that hope for a free future has finally reached within reach.

Political reactions in Austria

The Austrian Federal Government has announced that the asylum procedures for Syrian refugees. However, this happens under hot, controversial circumstances, since critics like Caritas director Walter Schmolly warn against hasty decisions. He emphasizes that nobody can predict what the security situation in Syria means in concrete terms. The head of the Coordination Center Integration Vorderland, Margot Pires, is similar: "Syria is free, but not yet safe." In Vorarlberg, more than 1,350 Syrians are now employed and the concern for impending deportation is increasing in view of the government's newly introduced return and deportation programs. Many of these people have built up a new life here and now have to worry about their future. Despite the joy of developing in her homeland, the fear for your security and uncertainty about the future situation remains omnipresent, like vorarlberg.orf.at and Vol.at report.