The hunger strike ended after a month (in January 2013) and the archbishop himself promised the refugees that they could remain in the church and would not be expelled by police. The Refugee Protest Camp in Vienna was supported by multiple NGOs and many activists and students, including a number from the Academy of Fine Arts in Vienna. As nothing was offered to them by that point-no answer from the authorities regarding their demands-a group of refugees went on a hunger strike. They decided to “camp” in the freezing cold church building (while at the same time being monitored and controlled by Caritas, a Catholic Church charity relief organization). After negotiating with personnel from the Votive Church, the refugees entered the church itself. This camp was cleared by police on December 28, 2012. The march resulted in the erection of the Refugee Protest Camp, which included tents, a kitchen, and activities in Sigmund Freud Park, in front of the Votive Church in the center of Vienna. The march, which took place on November 24, 2012, started at the refugee reception center in Traiskirchen and ended at the Vienna city center-a distance of around twenty kilometers. 1 At the center of this protest lies the formation of the Refugee Protest Camp in Vienna, which started with a ten-hour march of approximately a hundred refugees and their supporters. Since November 2012, refugees have been protesting in Austria. From a speech by refugee Salaheddine Najah during a protest song contest at the Rabenhof Theatre, Vienna, February 12, 2013 This is a self-organized struggle of and by refugees, one that needs your support, your presence on the street on Saturday.” We thank everybody for their help, but we don’t allow anybody to use us. We ourselves, the refugees, make the demonstration, and we are the ones who want it.
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