On Saturday evening, unknown persons set fire to the very controversial refugee quarters currently under construction on Lunzerstrasse in Linz. Mayor Klaus Luger condemned the attack and was outraged.
The trees are gone, the foundations have been poured and the partly new, partly used walls have already been delivered. The district for 48 migrants in the district of Kleinmünchen, which was unloved by the Linz city politicians – in the form of the SPÖ and FPÖ in rare unity – quickly took shape on Saturday. An excavator driver was also on duty during the day. But in the evening hours there was suddenly a fire on the construction site. “Against all violence” According to initial information, the police are definitely assuming arson. “Even if the perpetrators and their motives are still unknown, it can be assumed that there is a connection with the accommodation of asylum seekers in Lunzerstrasse,” said Linz Mayor Klaus Luger. “I speak out clearly against any form of radicalization and violence in our city, no matter who perpetrates it!” compared to other districts, the fire attack shows one thing very clearly: “After years of the pandemic and in the middle of times of multiple crises, the topic of asylum is more emotional than ever. That is why the federal government and above all the ÖVP-FPÖ state government are all the more called upon to finally deal sensitively with new refugee quarters and, above all, to seek dialogue with the local population,” said Luger The resolution at the state and federal level to refrain from “constructing and opening the quarter on Lunzerstraße” was not heard. In a few weeks, the wooden frame house at the “burdened” address, which is operated by the Samaritan Association, should be ready for occupancy. Up to 1500 people were housed in a total of seven blocks of flats. Since the wave of refugees in 2015 at the latest, people in Upper Austria have abandoned the philosophy of creating as central and large quarters as possible.
source site-12