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Page 38 Annual Reports of various Organisations Racism Report 2004
Mr. A., an Austrian citizen of Italian origin, has worked in the kitchen of the “Goldenen Drei Kugeln” for
four months. For some time he’s noticed that the chef keeps approaching one of his colleagues with obvious immoral
intentions. To help her Mr. A. goes up to the chef and says: “In my country this kind of behaviour is forbidden. It’s
called sexual harassment at work.” The chef looks at him and laughs. The next day the chef calls Mr. A. and hands
him a document for the amicable termination of the employment contract (like in the previous cases). Mr. A. signs it
because he doesn’t want to work in a place like that and waives his rights. He reports the incident to us because he
wants the grievances at the “Goldenen Drei Kugeln” made public.
Mr. A. from Nigeria needed to have his Nigerian driving licence commuted to comply with Austrian regulations
which includes passing a practical and theoretical exam (computer test). In Nigeria he worked as a truck driver
and wants to continue working in his profession in Austria. He passes the practical test without any problems. To the
computer test he is accompanied by an interpreter who translates the questions for him. Because of the translation
his reaction rate is far too long. He explains that this is to do with being asked the questions in English and not in his
mother tongue. The psychologist present remarks to the interpreter: “They have a bad capacity of reaction anyway!”
and issues a negative traffic psychological expertise. This means that Mr. A. has to wait for a whole year before he
can take the test again not to mention the significant costs involved. We are contacted by the interpreter and told
about the circumstances. When we want to intervene Mr. A. tells us not to for fear that then he wouldn’t ever get a
license. We suggest a private expertise but Mr. A. declines that as well because it would involve the courts.
Mr. M. from Senegal contacts us because of similar problems with the traffic psychological expertise (see
previous case, Mr. A.). He took the test already three times each time having to pay the relevant fees and has been
waiting for his Austrian driving license for two years. He was also a truck driver before he left his county and he
would easily find work in Graz but not without a driving license. He says he’s under the impression as if there was
some sort of agreement not to issue licenses to Africans and that he couldn’t think of another explanation for the
procedure in this country. We decide to talk to the authorities in charge. This, however, is of no consequence; we’re
merely told that “the laws are strictly kept”. In the meantime Mr. M. has immigrated to the UK where his original
driver’s license is accepted without additional tests.
The Franziskushaus reports that teenage asylum seekers in their care are denied entry to the pub “WON”
on the grounds that “asylum seekers are not allowed in!” The manager of the place replies to our letter of complaint
by phoning us and saying that his pub was multi-cultural but that “entry was refused to sleazebags”. We inform the
Franziskushaus about the telephone conversation and about the possibility of a report.
We are informed by a woman who is originally from Bosnia that her son is continuously insulted in school
by fellow students as “Yugo” and ostracised in class. We advise her to talk to the form teacher and tell her about the
possibility of carrying out an awareness training in class. After the meeting with the form teacher the other teachers
start paying attention to the problem and they talk about it in class. Since then the boy is integrated and no longer
insulted.
Ms. R. calls us. She is married to a man from Africa and they’re currently looking for an apartment. They
come across a broker who refuses to rent to fellow citizens of foreign origin. When we ask for an explanation we’re
told by the broker that the owner didn’t want to rent his flats to migrants because of “noise”, “intense cooking
smells”, bad payment morale and so on. Upon request by Ms. R. we send a response to the broker informing him that
this kind of behaviour is unlawful.
We are informed by ISOP (Innovative Sozialprojekte/Innovative Social Projects) of children with black skin
who were not admitted to the schools of their choice. The reason given was: “You don’t live in this district” which
clearly didn’t apply to students of Austrian origin. ISOP suspects that some schools want to keep the proportion of
migrants as low as possible. The only option left to parents is to register their children in schools with a migrant
proportion of more than 50%. We contact the school inspectorate and they promise to look into the matter.
Three years ago Mr. E., an Austrian citizen of African origin, married an Austrian woman out of love.
Unfortunately the marriage didn’t last and after several attempts to save it the couple agreed to separate. They were
divorced on amicable grounds. There didn’t seem to be a problem until his ex-wife reported him to the police because
of “fictitious marriage” claiming that he paid her for marrying him. Now Mr. E. has to prove to the Public Prosecutor
that they got married out of love.