Humanitarianism with Limits: The Reception of Refugees from the Global South in Austria in the 1970s

The article is the first study toaddress the Austrian reception of refugees from the Global South in the Kreisky era on the basis of available archival sources. After a brief introductory section addressing the myth and reality of Austria’s role as a Cold War refuge, it proceeds with two cases studies. The first case study addresses reactions to the military coup in Chile 1973, the subsequent interactions with the junta, and the granting of asylum for persecuted Chileans. The second case study assesses Austria’s contribution to the resettlement of Indochinese refugees from “small quotas” to a broader solidarity with the so-called “boat people.” Both cases illustrate general patterns in Austria’s refugee policies during the Cold War and the growing importance of society and NGOs in facilitating the admission of non-European refugees. The article also demonstrates that humanitarianism had its limits, and the European approach continued to dominate Austria’s Cold War asylum policies. This became evident in 1981 when the arrival of Polish refugees abruptly ended Austrian participation in global refugee resettlement. The conclusion stresses the primarily European scope of Austria’s refugee policies and points to several continuities in asylum policies from the 1970s to the present day.