Syrians in Austria do volunteer work to disarm doubts about migrants

KRITZENDORF, Austria — 

While shoveling mud retired of gardens astir 2 weeks aft torrential flooding battered the tiny Austrian municipality of Kritzendorf, Abulhkeem Alshater gestures towards a banner: "Austro-Syrians say: Thank you, Austria."

Alshater, 45, primitively from Homs, Syria, has been moving with dozens of his countryfolk to assistance cleanable up the messiness near by floods. The enactment is simply a motion of gratitude to Austria astatine a clip erstwhile migration has go a blistery taxable successful Sunday's wide election.

Alshater hopes the show of Syrians devoting clip and vigor to bring alleviation to the hard-hit authorities of Lower Austria volition instrumentality immoderate steam retired of the often-strident run rhetoric astir uncontrolled immigration.

"There's an predetermination on. We're trying to amusement that we're not each the same," said Alshater, who heads the Free Syrian Community of Austria, a enactment radical for Syrians.

Fleeing warfare successful their homeland, the fig of Syrians surviving successful Austria roseate much than eightfold betwixt 2015 and 2024, according to authoritative data, with 95,180 determination arsenic of January.

Right-wing efforts to curb migration to Austria person gained traction since deadly attacks successful Germany blamed connected migrants of Muslim origin, and a foiled crippled to onslaught a Taylor Swift performance supposedly masterminded by an ISIS-inspired teenager.

For weeks, the far-right Freedom Party (FPO) has led sentiment polls, conscionable up of the ruling blimpish Austrian People's Party (OVP). Both parties committedness to enact tougher asylum laws and ace down connected amerciable migration if victorious.

Alshater, a creator and decorator who arrived successful 2015, has spent the past fewer days helping locals retrieve from flooding successful places similar Kritzendorf conscionable northbound of Vienna, wherever the deluge near houses partially submerged successful muddy water.

Homeowner Dinko Fejzuli, a nonmigratory of Austria who was calved to parents from Croatia and Macedonia, said the Syrian volunteers had fixed emergence to immoderate absorbing encounters.

"Yesterday, I brought immoderate of the helpers to a woman who I cognize volition beryllium voting FPO," helium said. "They helped her due to the fact that she had neither friends nor household to help. It was ironic."