A man and his children wait outside of Austria’s main refugee camp in Traiskirchen on July 31. Amnesty International has slammed conditions at Austria’s main refugee camp as a ‘disgraceful’ violation of human rights, highlighting what it called the ‘inhumane’ plight of more than 1,700 unaccompanied children.

DPA/Vienna

Austrian authorities are responsible for inhumane conditions in the country’s largest refugee camp near Vienna, Amnesty International charged yesterday, accusing the government of violating its human rights obligations.
After visiting the Traiskirchen camp last week, experts of the rights advocacy group reported that it was totally overcrowded, with 1,500 of 4,000 asylum seekers forced to sleep in the open.
“I would not have thought that something like this is possible in Austria,” said Heinz Patzelt, the head of Amnesty’s Austrian chapter.
“Austria neither faces financial plight, nor does it lack resources,” he told reporters in Vienna.
The increasing flow of Syrian and other refugees who have been arriving in Greece and travelling through the Balkans has led to soaring migrant numbers in Austria.
More than 28,000 asylum claims were filed in the first half of the year, more than last year’s total.
The Amnesty experts found repugnant hygienic conditions, as well as severely understaffed medical, social and psychological services for the asylum seekers at the Traiskirchen camp that is intended for a maximum of 1,800 people.
Hundreds of unaccompanied children and youths live there without proper support, they added.
“They are not receiving proper protection, but are completely left to their own devices,” said Daniela Pichler, who led Amnesty’s inspection team.
UN conventions on the rights of children and women were being violated, Amnesty said.
The interior ministry acknowledged that the situation in the camp was “precarious,” but pointed out in a statement that the problem was caused by the refusal of several Austrian provinces and many communities to host adequate numbers of asylum seekers.
A ministry spokesman told DPA that efforts were underway to reduce the pressure in Traiskirchen by transferring people to smaller facilities, rather than significantly improving services at the camp.