The Federal Agency for Care and Support Services (BBU) confirmed the project on Thursday afternoon when ORF Upper Austria asked. According to Andreas Achrainer, Managing Director of the BBU, occupancy is possible in the next few weeks if necessary. According to Achrainer, up to 300 asylum seekers will move into the former hotel. This is used to compensate for expiring contracts in other accommodations. The former Ibis hotel will be rented until the end of the year.
Project announced to City Council
Linz Mayor Klaus Luger (SPÖ) Luger said on Thursday afternoon in the municipal council that he had been informed by the BBU that they intend to rent the former Ibis hotel and use it as accommodation for up to 300 refugees. This made the project public. There has been speculation about this for a good four months. Luger was informed by the BBU. Since the city itself had no say in the matter, Luger called on the federal government to ban the BBU from using the former hotel in the center.
Luger speaks out against refugee quarters
The Mayor of Linz emphasized that the location in the immediate vicinity of the main train station and the Volksgarten, which is already socially burdened, is completely unsuitable for such a large district. Although he is generally committed to taking in refugees, he fundamentally rejects mass quarters in the asylum system.
ÖVP Linz is against the project
The Linz ÖVP rejects the project: “For us it is absolutely unacceptable to accommodate up to 300 refugees in the former Ibis hotel. That would only exacerbate the problem at the train station and in the Volksgarten. We demand that the city buy the building – a retirement home would be the ideal use,” said Deputy Mayor Martin Hajart (ÖVP).
Sharp criticism from the Linz FPÖ
Sharp criticism came from the Linz Security City Councilor Michael Raml (FPÖ): “300 asylum seekers in the station district are absolutely irresponsible and unacceptable to the people of Linz. Such a large asylum quarter would clearly exacerbate the existing focal point of the main train station and Volksgarten.”
A free request to Mayor Luger revealed that a contract between the owner of the Ibis hotel and the federal care agency was being prepared, Raml said in a broadcast on Thursday. The Liberals propose that the City of Linz and the non-profit housing association of the City of Linz GWG should make the hotel owner a new offer. “Retirement center, apartments, offices – everything would be better than a large asylum area in the middle of the city center,” says Raml.
The Linz Greens also speak out against large quarters
Large districts would complicate the inclusion process and often create more problems than they solve, according to the Greens in a broadcast on Thursday. “As large quarters, we take a very critical view of quarters in which more than 100 people are housed. That’s why yes to small care units, no to mass quarters, ”said the chairman of the Linz Greens, Helge Langer.
Rejection also from NEOS Linz
NEOS also spoke out against the project: “We are against large quarters when accommodating asylum seekers, because they promote neither the acceptance of the people in the area nor the quality of the integration of those asylum seekers,” said Linz NEOS parliamentary group leader Georg Redlhammer. It is also known that the question of security is always a big issue for the people of Linz, especially in the station district.
