Youth Could Face Deportation

The two youths in question are specifically a pair of brothers with Serbian roots who live in Vienna and have accumulated the most charges of juvenile offenders in all of Austria. Police and Interior Minister Gerhard Karner (ÖVP) referred to them as "system breakers".

Juveniles in Custody Face Deportation

Both are in pre-trial detention, as confirmed by the Ministry of the Interior upon APA's request. "An investigation is ongoing - following which there will be a criminal trial," it was stated. The Federal Office for Immigration and Asylum (BFA) has initiated a revocation procedure against the youths - according to the Ministry of the Interior, Serbian citizens with a residence permit based on the Settlement and Residence Act.

However, the outcome of the criminal proceedings must first be awaited. A possible conviction would be a prerequisite for the revocation. "Further measures would be linked to this - such as deportation to the country of origin," the Ministry of the Interior further stated. According to "profil", this would be the first such case. "It is rather unusual for minors to have their residence permit revoked or subsequently deported - but in some cases, it is unavoidable," it was emphasized to the APA.

Juveniles Charged Hundreds of Times

The measure is directed against a 14-year-old who is said to have committed around 1,500 burglaries, most of them before his 14th birthday and therefore initially unpunished criminally. Together with his brother (16), he was reported over 2,200 times last year. Shortly after his 14th birthday, the younger one was imprisoned after crashing a stolen car in Vienna in March this year. He was released under conditions at the end of July, which he reportedly only partially complied with according to "profil". He is now one of three suspects in a burglary on October 8, the crime scene: a massage salon in Vienna-Wieden.

The brothers' mother lives in Vienna but does not have custody, according to the magazine. The father has been deported. The grandparents in Serbia have reportedly refused to take over custody. Currently, it lies with the Vienna Child and Youth Welfare Service. It is being examined whether state institutions in Serbia could step in. Nikolaus Tsekas from the probation assistance association Neustart warned "profil" against a purely repressive approach. Juvenile offenders would require "long-term care". Deportation shifts the problem and possibly promotes "a life underground and in illegality".

(APA/Red)

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