The refugee crisis in Austria

Many attendees have written to us to ask how the refugee crisis in Europe will affect the Colloquium and also how they can help or donate to support refugees.

It is hard to estimate how the situation will play out in the next days, let alone weeks; however what we can say curently (Thursday 24 September 2015) is that for those arriving by air you will have no restrictions. Those arriving by train should check the timetables and website of the Austrian rail service ÖBB to be advised of the current situation.

Many refugees arrive at the two main train stations in Vienna - the Westbahnhof and the Hauptbahnhof - and they are cared for there by volunteers and charity organisations. Nonethless it can be quite busy and sometimes train services are cancelled. The Austrian Government is currently transporting refugees to interim accomodation in many parts of the country; however many refugees want to continue their journey (typically towards Germany and Sweden) and generally are traveling by train. The airport train service CAT (City-Airport-Train) arrives at the Wien Mitte - Landstrasse station (U3/U4) and this is currently very quiet. The closest train station to the venue - the Praterstern, is equally quiet.

Austria is generally very welcoming to the refugees. One of the main charity organisations providing help to refugees in Austria (in the form of clothes, food & water, essential toiletary items, baby supplies, etc) is the Caritas and you may like to make a donation (site in German, donation by credit card possible).

Lastly, there is a pro-refugee march/demonstration planned for Saturday 3 October at 13:00pm from the Westbahnhof (U3/U6) to the city.