Dornbirn raises an alarm for humanity with anti-objectless benches”!

Dornbirn raises an alarm for humanity with anti-objectless benches”!

At the Dornbirn train station, a controversial measure causes excitement: the city has equipped new benches with crossbeams to deny homeless people on the benches. This was seen as a radical signal, which shows how the richest city in Austria deals with particularly vulnerable groups. The writer Robert Schneider was outraged by this “cynical” action of the city and spoke of a “shammal” that makes the homeless clearly that they are undesirable. According to Schneider, this measure is in stark contrast to the values of charity and humanity, which should represent the Christmas season, as vorarlberg.orf reported.

demo against "anti-objectless benches"

to set a sign against this measure, there was a silent protest demonstration today. Robert's Schneider and other activists called for a return to humanity and criticized the decision of the city administration. Schneider described the handling of homeless as a wrong signal and posted himself against the public space, which is sometimes perceived as a "security tract", which is created by these benches. Dornbirn's city councilor Marie Louise Hinterauer, who supports the measure, was also invited to the event, but Schneider publicly criticized that the city would maintain similar practices as in Mauthausen, as krone.at reported.

The demonstration in the afternoon, which lasted half an hour, was a clear contradiction to the measures of the city. The activists demanded more ethical treatment of homeless people and appealed to the city council members to consider the social consequences of their decisions more. In view of the cold winter days, the discussion about these benches and the handling of the homeless will continue at this location.