Austria accused over child rights

Austria should stop detaining children and halt the deportations of well-integrated foreign families that are denied asylum, Amnesty International and three other groups urged yesterday.

The country also should better protect the rights of non-Austrian minors and become more lenient about granting young asylum seekers and their parents the right to stay on humanitarian grounds, the organisations said in a letter to politicians.

The appeal comes just days after eight-year-old twins were taken into custody with their father in an early-morning raid and deported to their native Kosovo. Their mother, who is in psychiatric care, stayed behind. The four had lived in Austria since 2004 but were expelled after being denied asylum.