#LeaveNoOneBehind
Rectorates of the Art Universities against Deportation of Minors

We, the rectors and vice-rectors of the Universities of the Arts, observe with concern and shame the deportation practice of the Austrian federal government.

Vienna, 15 January 2021

As Art Universities, we are committed - also on the basis of the guidelines issued by the Federal Ministry - to a culture of integration, diversity, social sustainability and solidarity. In our understanding, none of this can be reconciled with tearing children who were born and raised in Austria from their homes at night and deporting them to a future that is foreign to them.

We share the concerns expressed by our President against the deportation of children born and raised in Austria. We too cannot and do not want to believe that we live in a country where this is really necessary in this form. Just like the former judge at the European Court of Justice and former Austrian Minister of Justice Maria Berger, we are convinced that the Austrian legal system has not made deportation mandatory. Together with the President, we give priority to the well-being of children and young people. In this sense, we appeal to the Minister of the Interior to reverse these deportations immediately.

We are especially concerned because the current social and economic crisis brings with it extraordinary political dangers. We will strongly oppose all political attempts to make the socially weakest - refugees or people of other origins - scapegoats for this unimagined crisis.

The rectors and vice-rectors of the Austrian Art Universities:
Rector Gerald Bast, University of Applied Arts Vienna
Rector Elisabeth Gutjahr, Mozarteum University Salzburg
Rector Johan F. Hartle, Academy of Fine Arts Vienna
Rector Brigitte Hütter, University of Art and Design Linz
Rector Georg Schulz, University of Music and Performing Arts Graz
Rector Ulrike Sych, University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna