VZCZCXRO5596
RR RUEHIK
DE RUEHVI #1577/01 3481500
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 141500Z DEC 09
FM AMEMBASSY VIENNA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 3874
INFO RUCNMEM/EU MEMBER STATES

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 VIENNA 001577 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
DEPARTMENT FOR EUR/CE 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PREL PGOV PHUM EUN AU
SUBJECT: EU STUDY PRESENTS MIXED PICTURE OF AUSTRIAN TURKISH 
INTEGRATION 
 
VIENNA 00001577  001.2 OF 002 
 
 
¶1. (U) Summary: An EU study on minorities released December 9 gives 
a mixed picture of Austria's Turkish community.  The results 
indicate that ethnic Turks face less discrimination in Austria than 
in other EU countries with substantial Turkish immigrant 
communities.  At the same time, however, Austrian Turks lag behind 
their brethren in other EU countries in terms of education, 
employment, and language proficiency.  End Summary. 
 
¶2. (U) The study, compiled by the European Union Agency for 
Fundamental Rights, includes data on a range of minority groups 
across the EU.  The survey was limited to minorities comprising at 
least 5 percent of the national population.  Turkish communities in 
Austria, Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium, and Bulgaria 
were included.  Immigrants to Austria from the former Yugoslavia 
were also covered in the study. 
 
Austrian Turks Face Less Discrimination... 
---------------------------------------- 
 
¶3. (U) The results indicate that ethnic Turks are less likely to 
face discrimination in Austria than in any other EU country with a 
substantial Turkish minority except Bulgaria.  The Bulgarian Turks, 
unlike the other groups in the survey, comprise an established, 
non-immigrant community virtually all of whom are Bulgarian 
citizens.  Austrian Turks say they face fewer incidents of 
discrimination in their daily life than their brethren in Germany, 
Denmark, Belgium, and the Netherlands. 
 
¶4. (U) Specific data on discrimination include: 
 
-- 9 percent of Austrian Turks say they have suffered discrimination 
in the past 12 months, compared to 42 percent in Denmark and 30 
percent in Germany and the Netherlands. 
 
-- 6 percent of Austrian Turks say they have been stopped by the 
police over the past 12 months, compared to 28 percent in Denmark 
and the Netherlands and 24 percent in Germany. 
 
-- 27 percent of Austrian Turks believe their ethnicity or religion 
hinders advancement in the workplace; in the Netherlands, 80 percent 
of Turks said their ethnicity was a hindrance and 68 percent said 
their religion was.  In Belgium and Denmark a majority also said 
both their ethnicity and religion hindered advancement at work. 
 
-- Ethnic Turks were more likely to report discrimination to 
police/other authorities in the countries where discrimination was 
more common, and less likely in the countries where it was less 
common.  In Austria and Bulgaria, 5 percent of the incidents of 
discrimination against Turks were reported, compared to 24 percent 
in Denmark and 22 percent in the Netherlands. 
 
...But Lag in Other Areas 
----------------------- 
 
¶5. (U) At the same time, however, the study indicates that Austrian 
Turks lag behind their brethren in other EU countries when it comes 
to employment, education, and language proficiency.  Results from 
the study include: 
 
-- 50 percent of Austrian Turks have held paid jobs in the last five 
years, the lowest percentage among Turkish groups in the study.  The 
highest rate was recorded among Danish Turks, 82 percent, followed 
by Dutch Turks, 69 percent. 
 
-- 52 percent of Turkish women in Austria are homemakers or engaged 
in unpaid work, by far the highest percentage in the survey.  The 
second highest proportion was among Belgian Turks, at 33 percent. 
 
-- 5 percent of Turks in Austria and Germany had completed 14 or 
more years of education, the lowest proportion among the countries 
in the survey.  In Austria, one third of Turks had completed 5 years 
of education or less, or had not enrolled in school at all.  The 
most educated Turkish community was in the Netherlands, where 30 
percent had completed at least 14 years of education. 
 
-- 53 percent of Austrian Turks interviewed for the survey were 
fluent in German, the lowest level of language proficiency among the 
Turkish communities.  The highest level was among the Belgian Turks, 
81 percent of whom were fluent in French. 
 
-- 8 percent of Turks in Austria have been in the country for less 
than five years, the highest proportion of any country in the 
survey.  The overall average was 3 percent. 
 
Comment: Ominous Signs for Future 
--------------------------------- 
 
¶6. (SBU) It is encouraging to see that Turks in Austria today 
 
VIENNA 00001577  002.2 OF 002 
 
 
apparently face relatively little discrimination in their daily 
lives.  However, other results from this study indicate the 
community is lagging in all areas essential to a better future. 
Turks will not manage to integrate into Austrian society if they 
fail to break the cycle linking poor German language skills, low 
academic achievement, and limited employment prospects.  It is 
possible that Austrian Turks fare relatively poorly in these areas 
in part because so many of them are new immigrants.  But it is 
unlikely that the mere passage of time will resolve the problem, as 
social and structural hurdles requiring government and civil society 
action by the majority community must also be addressed.