Subliminal messages
I kept delaying writing this because each day brought new stories and new challenges. TL,DR: Ukrainians are being sent signals from all directions to pack up and go home.
We held our press conference last Tuesday, and since then, there has been some increased media coverage regarding the challenges Ukrainians in Grundversorgung (and more broadly) face here in Austria.
However, and perhaps this is purely a coincidence, since Tuesday, we have been hearing more messages about new challenges. If you sit back and compile all the information, the conclusion is clear, and many of the Ukrainians in my Telegram group drew it themselves “they want us all to go back to Ukraine”.
Last week I received a desperate message from a mom of two in Tirol who is six months pregnant, and had spent her last €50 on an ultrasound which was mandatory as part of her pre-natal care but not covered by state health insurance. She had been planning to buy food with the monthly benefits she receives from the state (these are normally €260 per adult and €145 per child), but as of October 18, she still hadn’t been paid for October. The rumour I read online was the TSD employee responsible for making such transfers was out sick. Yes, really. So I turned to Twitter and quickly the mom received €130 to cover their immediate needs. So in this individual case, she got help. But if you take a systemic look: this is totally dysfunctional. People already living below the poverty line cannot be expected to fund gaps in funding. With what, their non-existent credit cards?
Last Friday, a mom of three living in Vienna whom I know personally wrote in the Telegram group: she received a phone call from FSW, informing her that any income she received in Ukraine since March 2022 (!) would no be counted as income, back calculated, and she would be expected to pay back her “debts”. She was told she was being informed by phone call because they know the news may be “upsetting”. There was no formal announcement about this, just a bomb dropped. Her neighbour in Vienna, a pensioner from Ukraine, also received such a phone call.
And this is not limited to Vienna. Residents of Lower Austria have received official letters (I have seen a copy) demanding they show “income from Ukraine” for the past three months. Jenia tells me Ukrainians in Upper Austria have been having “income” from Ukraine subtracted from the basic aid they receive from the state for some time. She shares with us this example:
During our press conference, we tried to really convey how hard it is to live on Grundversorgung, as the amounts paid out are simply nowhere near what a person needs to take care of basic needs in Europe right now at today’s prices. And then on top of these minuscule payments, you want to deduct from an elderly person their tiny Ukrainian pension which in most cases they use to pay their utility bill back home, provided they still have an apartment standing?! And then think back to Tirol, which didn’t manage to pay for October as of last Wednesday.
Get a job, they would say. Ah yes, get a job, but then lose your housing, and good luck finding anyone to rent to you. On Friday I spoke with Maryna who is here from Mykolaiv with her daughter and mother. I wrote about the family several months back here. They have moved out of the Austrian home they lived in (they were told it was time to go) and into a dorm run by an NGO in Vienna. Maryna found a job at a supermarket chain in Vienna. Her mother is working cleaning apartments through a connection I shared in the Telegram group. Her daughter is in school. They would love to find an apartment to rent, but no private landlord will rent to them with income of less than €2000 per month after taxes. It is an impossible ask to rent space for three on one official income. Meanwhile, I have to warn her — be very careful you are not hit with a big rent bill from your social housing when you announce you are moving out, for all the months you worked and lived there. We know many such stories, unfortunately. Why this all happens at the end, retroactively, for months in the past…
In short, people who are on paper “doing everything right” and trying their best to be financially independent and integrate themselves are not getting the support they need, as they have no access to the social programs available to all other residents of Austria, plus they are locked into the strict, in-transparent, and ever-changing rules of Grundversorgung. Hence, this very timely petition initiated by SOS Mitmensch. Please sign and share if you have not already.
An Austrian made a very interesting suggestion over social media recently, namely, that one Ukrainian individual or family should come forward, try to apply for these social programs available to all except Ukrainians in Grundversorgung, get a rejection, and then on the basis of this a lawsuit could be filed. I will see if anyone would be willing to try this approach.
In other news, Ukrainians are still fearful of the dreaded GIS inspectors who make housecalls to see if a family has a TV, and if they find one, enforce payment of the Austrian national TV license fee. Ukrainians should in theory be exempt, but they have to file paperwork to claim this exception.
There have also been renewed (this is actually nothing new) reports of plain-clothed interior ministry / police housecalls to Ukrainians living in private accommodation, to “check” who is living at the address, look at the registration papers and match with international passports. These unannounced home visits usually happen early morning or in the evening, and are a cause of great stress as many do not understand why the inspection is happening and why the officers do not come in uniform. As a foreigner who has been living in Austria legally for a decade, I was never paid such a visit by the authorities.
There are long waits for German classes, some speak of six months or more between levels in Vienna. Residents in Tirol complain of mixed level classes (e.g. A2 and B1 together), and the lack of online courses available for those who are working full-time. Most classes are in person, and you wait ages for a spot. This makes the possibility of working and studying at the same time tricky. I do know Ukrainians with jobs who are also taking courses, but many paid out of pocket for courses which match their work schedules. I wish those in government who talk about refugees not wanting to integrate better understood the logistics of accessing this really necessary language education.
It is getting colder, and Ukrainians are still coming here from Ukraine. Unfortunately, the Vienna arrival center is already essentially full, I am told, and Graz is about to shut its doors. The situation we warned about last Tuesday is already here. Vulnerable people, elderly, handicapped, are turning up and being told there is no space for them now. A message was even posted into Telegram groups yesterday, trying to warn Ukrainians in Ukraine not to come now. Which is ridiculous. Because there is no official such warning from the Austrian state. There is no declaration of “we are full” in German. That would be ok. That would be transparent. But to act as if you are open and then turn people away in practice when they get here is not ok. Everyone knows that winter is just around the corner and that means we have to expect more Ukrainians from front line areas and not only (just look at Kharkiv a few nights ago). So either create those emergency beds, make a plan on how you will house those people throughout Austria, or announce that Austria is closed. It is really not rocket science. Instead what I think is happening is a battle between federal states, none wanting to take in more refugees, competing against each other to see who can provide the least reception.
Long term, for those who are here, they are being squeezed from all directions. Only the strongest will make it. Others will give up and go home. Which is, many would say, exactly what those who enforce these insane rules, like taking €70 away from a granny already living well below the poverty line, are trying to achieve. The message is loud and clear: Austria is only a safe haven for those who are financially independent.
There is still no clarity on long-term status in EU/Austria post March 2025. Many Ukrainians are trying hard to learn German fast, to find good jobs, so that when that day comes when a more permanent resident status is hopefully offered, they will qualify. Austria always says it needs the workers, and yet if you look at how things are enforced in practice, you would conclude Austria simply wants foreigners to go home.
On Friday afternoon I was working with another journalist, planning some filming for tomorrow, trying to shed light on these issues in more depth. Finding Ukrainian families willing to talk on camera. My phone rings. It is about a 12 year old girl in Salzburg who is in a middle school and the authorities are trying to move her back to an elementary school were she would be in a class with 9 and 10 year olds. Now, after she already started the year. Some legal thing I don’t understand. A kind person is trying to fight against this within the system. It requires calls to the ministry of education. Over one Ukrainian girl. Can you imagine?
I don’t know why common sense flew out the window. I don’t understand what is happening in the world anymore. It is hard to lift your head up and look around without screaming. So if it feels like I am focusing on the micro — I am. It is all any of us can do. I cannot get my head around the macro right now, I need some time.
I started reading a new book. So far, it is very good. I love her writing in Russian. She is one of those fragile, emotional, and yet so ridiculously brave individuals.
Huge thank you to Mario who is sending out another 144 cards. And to all of you for making it possible!
And a few happy grocery photos. The lemon photo is from the pregnant mom in Tirol. Thank you all. Yesterday, one of you helped an elderly lady get from Vienna to Salzburg, as Vienna had no more beds. We helped buy her a train ticket. I asked about a used washing machine for a family in rural Lower Austria. You gave me some good tips. Step by step. Together. This is the only way that gives me any hope that we have not lost our collective humanity. Thank you.
