Police closer to home

“The police will have authorisation to enter private homes,” headlines Die Presse. As part of a new hard line on immigration put forward by Austria’s very active interior minister Maria Fekter (ÖVP), the police will no longer require a warrant to search private residences and vehicles if they suspect the presence of undocumented aliens. The measures, which are described in a specific article of the country’s new ‘Aliens Act’ developed both by the ÖVP and its coalition partner the SPÖ, will be subject to approval by a vote in parliament to take place in the month of April.

“Fekter has established the basis for a generalised suspicion that foreigners are either illegal or criminals,” writes Die Presse, which notes that “civil rights are not the sole preserve of Austrian passport holders. If your daughter has a foreign friend, who happens to be African […], then your home can be searched for drugs. Who is to say that the authorisation to conduct searches without warrants will not be extended to target a wider range of unloved Austrians? A day will come when every Austrian who wants to remain above suspicion will have to have a policeman living in his house.”