Argument escalated

Bloody attack with a kitchen knife in an asylum home

An asylum seeker (34) stabbed with a kitchen knife (symbolic image)

(Bild: Birbaumer Christof)

A Turkish man attacked a fellow countryman with a knife during an argument in a refugee shelter. The victim suffered a cut and was taken to hospital. The alleged perpetrator is in custody.

An argument between a Turkish asylum seeker (34) and a 29-year-old countryman got completely out of hand at the weekend in a refugee shelter in Leiben in the district of Melk. The men, who were sharing a room, initially engaged in heated verbal exchanges until the older man became so enraged that he suddenly grabbed a knife and attacked his opponent with it.

Wound on the upper arm
The victim suffered a cut to his upper arm and was then taken to St. Pölten Hospital. The suspected attacker was arrested and is now also in the provincial capital - in prison.

"Law and order"
This case also fuels the debates about a ban on knives and the asylum system. The FPÖ headquarters in Lower Austria has announced that measures have already been taken: "The bloody knife attack shows that our tightening of the Basic Welfare Act was a simple necessity. Specifically, an asylum seeker loses their basic welfare benefits if they are found with a weapon in or near refugee accommodation," explained a party spokesperson on Monday.

If asylum seekers are found with a weapon, they lose their basic welfare benefits and are kicked out of the system.

Christoph Luisser (FPÖ) Asyllandesrat in NÖ

Bild: FPÖ

And Christoph Luisser, the provincial councillor responsible for asylum matters, reiterates: "We are restoring law and order in Lower Austria, it's about protecting life and limb."