Austria – Refugee Roads

Willkommenskultur

By Refugee Roads | October 18, 2019 | Comments 0 Comment

Day 12, On the road

The German word Willkommenskultur was elected in Austria in December 2015 as “Word of the Year”. The term was all over the news back then and is still used today to describe a certain mindset in European society. But what does it stand for? And which cultural dimensions are surrounding it?

It was in the 2000s when the German political sphere brought the call for a pluralistic attitude to the middle of society. The general public started to realize that integration cannot function as a one-way street alone. Yet it requires collective efforts from both the refugees and the host society. This realization formed the foundation for the grassroots movement that welcomed refugees along the German border. It simultaneously led Chancellor Merkel to utter her famous words “Wir schaffen das” – We can do this. In cities like Munich, the meaning of these theoretic words could be witnessed in quick individual displays of solidarity when the flows of refugees hit German territory. Citizens opened their homes and wallets and donated their time to support the newcomers.

Not only during this trip now, but also three years ago, was the welcoming attitude of the people we met a pleasant surprise to me. Even in countries such as Hungary that seem to be stereotypically hostile towards refugees. Everywhere we went parts of the civil society stepped up to take over tasks that are usually assigned to the State. Food, Water, and other essential goods were and are collected, sorted, and distributed by volunteers and NGO’s all over the Balkan Route.

Yes, I did not encounter many people in the hotspots that we visited that were openly against welcoming refugees. I would love to though. Hearing all perspectives is nonetheless one of the goals of this project. So, if you have critical thoughts about “Willkommenskultur”, please contact us!

Meanwhile, read more about the expression here:

Policy brief in German

A critical article in German by Die Welt

2018 article in German about the development of civil initiatives since then

English summary on the term

Best,

Florian

Habibi & Hawara & HTyMpls – Integration in Vienna in 2019

By Refugee Roads | October 18, 2019 | Comments 0 Comment

Day 09, Austria

I am back in Vienna! I can’t believe it has been almost three years since Refugee Roads explored the issue of Integration here. Just as our project changed and developed since then, so have the project we visited back in 2016.

Habibi & Hawara, the social enterprise that runs a restaurant in collaboration with people with refugee status, still serves amazing cuisine. I was surprised to find that they took over the shop next to them and expanded their facilities threefold. They now have a second floor, an event room, and a regular lunch buffet where they serve the best Austrian-Syrian fusion foods I have ever eaten.

Katha Schinkinger now supports the startup in the position of Directrice. She also spearheaded the recent crowd investment efforts to open their second store in the beginning of 2020. They will start placing some of their foods in supermarkets nationwide and have also planned to expand their concept into Germany soon.

Our friend the barkeeper who we interviewed back then has now switched restaurants. We were fortunate enough to meet him before his shift at the Belvedere Castle. His German is fluent now, he even adopted the Austrian accent. It was great to catch up with him and conduct a follow-up interview.

I also had the pleasure to be hosted again by Happy.Thankyou.More. Please. Alina gave me all the insights on their recent development. They have changed locations to a more central district and now function as the Happy Market, where they serve refugees by enabling them to “go shopping” in their store on their own. They pick and choose which donated clothes they enjoy and thus reclaim their dignity, said Alina. The kids get to pick their new toys, too!

All in all, I can say that the integration projects have normalized and are now a regular part of the public sphere in the city. I guess this is because help continues to be needed and newly arrived refugees continue to need assistance with their integration process. On one hand, the people behind these initiatives deserve to be commended for their efforts. On the other hand, the question arises though, how much longer are these projects needed?

Best wishes,

Florian