Sheltered inside a church

From December 18 the Votivkirche, the Gothic Church in Vienna, has been occupied by over 40 political refugees. Protests broke out past November 24, when people took the streets in the Austrian capital shouting, "We want our rights". Initially the refugees set up a permanent camp at the Sigmund Freud Park. As they got no answer they moved over to the church, where they went on a hunger strike. The requests. "Basic services for all asylum-seekers regardless of their status, while living in Austria; the possibility to choose the place of residence, no transfer against our will; access to the job market, school institutions and medical assistance to all immigrants who reside in Austria; interruption of forced deportation to Hungary; establishment of an independent body for appeal against rejected asylum requests; recognition of social and economic motivations, along with the reasons recognized as licit for asylum request". This is what is written on the official website of the protest (www.refugeecampvienna.org).Catholics and Protestants side by side. The protest was acknowledged by political representatives, including Austrian minister of Interior Johanna Mikl-Leitner, the vice-President of the European Parliament Othmar Karas, who went to the Votivkirche to meet with the protesters. For the time being, no step has been made by policymakers to meet the requests. The Catholic Church and Caritas, along with the Protestant Church bodies, are in the forefront in providing spiritual and material support to all those living with a minimum level of services inside the church. Hunger, cold, along with the lack of sunshine and movement have weakened these people who fled from Pakistan, Afghanistan, Somalia, Algeria, Morocco. A health centre was set up in the sacristy to respond to urgent needs. The visits of card. Schönborn On many occasions the cardinal of Vienna Christoph Schönborn met with the refugees and took a public stand voicing support, as on the evening of December 30, when the cardinal visited the Votivkirche, according to Austrian press agency Kathpress: "I urge political leaders, in their quest for solutions to the requests and in addressing the destinies of these people, to take seriously consider the lives of human beings who face a dark future, marked by uncertainties". Again, on January 21, the cardinal and the director of Caritas-Vienna, Michael Landau, called upon the refugees to suspend their hunger strike and suggested that they move to another church building, with better conditions and services. But the refugees refused, as they want to prevent "the protests from being isolated". They motivated their decision to seek refuge inside the church with the fact that "over the past years churches in Austria have often sided with political refugees and supported their requests", the refugees wrote on their website, where they describe their protest as "autonomous" and "independent". Catholic action and parishes. "Prayers of solidarity" is the initiative promoted by Catholic Action Austria, to which many Austrian parishes adhered with religious services on the evening of January 25. On that occasion Cardinal Schönborn sent a message: "I pray for a concrete improvement of the conditions of their present situation, that they may be given a new opportunity of normal living conditions. Christians cannot remain silent before injustice and before the refugees’ needs. We have to continue our appeals for the adoption of fair legislation". "I pray for all those who are unable to see the refugees as their own brothers, who see them as strangers that must be sent away from our Country". Solidarity was conveyed uninterruptedly with prayer vigils, fund-raising initiatives and debates. Austrian personalities from the realms of journalism, culture and the arts have taken part in the vigils with the protesters. A dedicated song was written for them and a European demonstration is being planned for next February 16. The protests involve all of Europe, with strong participation in many European cities, like Lille, where 80 people on a hunger strike for the past two months asked: "Should we die to have residence permits?" Unreciprocated trust. The protesters’ conditions are growing worse, due to the ongoing hunger strike suspended only from January 22 to 31 and resumed on February 1st, "since none of our requests has been fulfilled". During the press conference they were asked who they wish to discuss their claims with. They replied: "We don’t need politicians, we need people with a larger heart. We trust everyone, but people don’t seem to trust us".