Sunday, November 09, 2014

Austrian Far-right Politician Calls Asylum Seekers "Cave Men"

Christian Hoebart
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Member of parliament from Austria's far-right Freedom Party (FPO) calls asylum seekers cave men on Facebook, triggering calls from other parties for his resignation

A member of parliament from Austria's far-right Freedom Party (FPO) called asylum seekers cave men on Facebook, triggering calls from other parties for his resignation.

Christian Hoebart's comments highlighted a febrile debate on immigration in the country, where recent polls have shown FPO neck and neck with traditional centrist parties, attracting about a quarter of votes.

His message, posted late on Friday, criticised a rally of mostly African asylum seekers held in the town of Traiskirchen near Vienna.

"I (could not) show understanding for yesterday's brouhaha of asylum seekers from Africa, so I called (them) emotionally ... 'soil and cave men', who cannot appreciate how good they've got it with us – their host country Austria," he wrote.

Other opposition politicians called for Hoebart, an FPO leader in the province of Lower Austria, to quit his political posts. » | Reuters | Saturday, November 08, 2014