Armenian girl resurfaced after disappearing in Austria
Austria should stop detaining children and halt the deportations of well-integrated foreign families that are denied asylum, Amnesty International and three other groups urged Thursday.
"The country also should better protect the rights of non-Austrian minors and become more lenient about allowing young asylum seekers and their parents to stay on humanitarian grounds," they said in a letter addressed to Austrian authorities.
The appeal comes just days after two 8-year-old twins were taken into custody with their father in an early morning raid and deported back to their native Kosovo. Their mother, who is in psychiatric care, stayed behind. The four had lived in Austria since 2004 but were expelled after being denied asylum and refusing to leave on their own.
Also Thursday, a 14-year-old Armenian girl resurfaced after disappearing Wednesday before police could pick her up from school so she could be deported. Her mother, meanwhile, is under suicide watch and has been hospitalized, Austrian broadcaster ORF reported.
