Financing removed – Social Associations: “Politics of Misantropy”

Serious Misen was looking forward to you on Monday morning at the Zebra Advice Center in Graz. Numerous representatives of styric social associations gathered for the spontaneous conference. They all had rejections -me -emails for state financing reached on Friday -without warning and with devastating effects.

“For us today is a black day. It was still said on Sunday, Graz will stop together, now it will affect the organizations that are there for people in need every day,” explains Nora Tödtling-Musenbichler, director of Caritas Styria. At the major aid organization, the funds for the Street Magazine Megaphon and the Vivan Violence Project project were sometimes deleted. The social department, led by Hannes Amesbauer (FPö), wants to save 2.5 million euros.

The anti-discrimination and extremism prevention center is particularly difficult- both were financed by state financing. “It is a way to clean up that we could not expect,” says Hoofd Daniela Gabovac. With the expiry of the financing on July 1, you will no longer be able to conduct consultation, no more hate messages-even not being able to work with those with whom victims of the murderous Spree are confronted.

Termination wave of fears
“People are behind the anonymous budgets,” emphasizes Alexandra Köck, director of Zebra. “People are expected to be able to speak our language, and then the courses will be removed,” she says with regard to her integration projects. But it is not just migration projects. Hundreds of places shake, thousands of customers can be without care soon. For example, a violence prevention project was also shortened by Mafalda, the association to support young women – although the responsible state council wanted to promote this area.

“It touches the weakest in our society,” says Head Marianne Baumgartner. ISOP director Robert Reithofer goes even further: “It is a policy of misanthropy.” The government has “agitation against people”. Moreover, the savings are afraid of high consumption costs. Under the motto “We need humanity!” If the representatives now ask the state government to take on a position and to reconsider the budget savings.

“Integration failed miserably”
For this purpose, the social associations urgently require the state council for an interview. A conversation that did not exist before the cancellations, which arrived without an explanation. In addition, ask for other affected organizations to report via jnent@steiermarkrettten.at. The Amesbauer office is said to be ready for conversations, although the deletions would be based on facts based on evaluations.

“I cannot call and dissolve a debt mountain. But I can set priorities – where people in our country really need it,” says the Social Council. And further: “The fact that migration associations, which have been promoted to millions of tax money for decades, have failed miserably in the field of integration and sometimes cost their personnel costs on these subsidies on these subsidies, have now accepted cutbacks since the FPö entered the state government.”