Austrian journalist and Russia expert Susanne Scholl has participated in a panel called “Asylum as Human Rights” and talked about the attitude of Austrian authorities towards Chechen asylum seekers.

The panel was held in Bregenz, Austria on April 12. During her speech, Scholl mentioned that the asylum seekers from Chechnya are currently the most frequent victims of arbitrary authority. Although Chechens should be recognized as refugees under the Geneva Convention, because they are personally persecuted for political reasons, today almost all applications are issued with negative decisions for Chechen asylum seekers.

“Austria violates constantly the Geneva Convention, and international human rights. Our authorities know exactly what they are doing when they send Chechen asylum seekers back there. I also see it as a threat to us all. Not only for refugees, because they don’t mind the law rules,” said Scholl.

*Text was written by Waynakh Online and edited by Michael Capobianco