Soldiers at the border

As the so-called "civil society" withdraws further, professional helpers are increasingly at the forefront of the Great Migration: police, army, Red Cross. The redirection of the Hungarian route to Germany has made the Styrian border crossing at Spielfeld the focal point of developments. Police and military have had to deal with a chaotic situation, which often gets out of control, especially in the first few days of the rapid increase in passing refugees and migrants. SPARTANAT presents a personal account of the border deployment today.

We are soldiers, neither terrain nor weather prevent us from fulfilling our mission, we master our equipment in our sleep - especially, or even more so, in times of danger. That is our profession. Floods, landslides, avalanches - no problem. BiH, Kosovo, Syria - on behalf of Austria. Security police assistance deployment - 20 months in all corners of Burgenland. Our workplace is threatened - in the summer still subjected to public ridicule, declared obsolete and exposed to sellout.

We are not prepared for this.

Autumn evening - the air is damp and quite cold - a light fog hangs in the treetops. Spielfeld / Styria - the last memory of this place, the Yugoslav crisis: tank destroyers take position on the access road, 24 years ago.

Mission: Prevent the uncontrolled flow of asylum seekers and refugees through the designated stopping areas by forming transportable group sizes. First contact. The voices, the calls, the desperate cries merge into a constant noise. In the mass of people in front of me, it is hard to perceive individuals, in the unreal light of the headlights, countless faces sway back and forth. Most had probably not had the opportunity to wash for more than a week. They are at their breaking point. Fear, despair, anger on their faces.

Back to the "blocking chain"! Close the gap. Dodging fists - thankfully the insults are in a foreign language - the question of purpose arises.

A blow to the upper arm - a push from the front - a rift in the line. A crying, screaming child under the arm of a wildly gesturing thirty-something, like a piece of luggage. The man resists all instructions to stop and pushes the intervening military policeman aside, attracting more along, followed by an apparently endless stream. Back to the "blocking chain"! Close the gap. Dodging fists - thankfully the insults are in a foreign language - the question of purpose arises. What am I doing here?

At home, the "Others" boast of being "Refugees welcome" activists, publicly praised smugglers and traffickers. Paradox.

A blow to the chest, shouting from behind. The situation becomes chaotic, the mood of the impatient turns. Ten meters in front of us - a seemingly unattainable distance in the midst of the densely packed crowd - a commotion, someone has fallen, the pushing crowd tramples over the unfortunate ones. Help! Help? The indiscipline of individuals, whose urge to help breaks the chain once again, brings the question back repeatedly: Why are we here?

Sure, if we didn't slow down the rush, there would be murder and manslaughter at the buses. The open aggressiveness is frightening, just a pair of scissors or a shard would pose an incredible danger to the completely unprotected soldiers in the front row, who have to endure hours of physical contact with completely reckless individuals. Checking the time. Four more hours! The noise level rises, the speaker's voice is almost overwhelmed. As if everyone had been waiting for this moment, breakthroughs occur everywhere, in the now completely unrestrained crowd. Without any regard for those in front of them, the stronger ones force their way over the weak, old, sick, women and children who had previously been brought to the fence, which eventually collapses. Maintain connection! Where are the others? Swept away in the stream of hundreds.

The "protection" - a reflective vest. Protective gear for law enforcement appears aggressive and should be avoided, effective blocking measures are considered anti-European symbols - so just take the blows (without a helmet).

The remaining police officers urge us to quickly clear the area, as no one can guarantee our safety here. Can't we do that ourselves? The "protection" - a reflective vest. Protective gear for law enforcement appears aggressive and should be avoided, effective blocking measures are considered anti-European symbols - so just take the blows (without a helmet). The stampede passes, only stragglers, undecided, left behind, dispersed, injured - no order to retreat. Move to assembly points.

Tired, cold - a sore throat from calling for order. Accounted for? Accounted for. Move forward. Army medics provide first aid, Red Cross helpers also move back to the front. What a sight! Keep going, the next 1,000, 2,000, or 3,000, or ... flood the stopping area again. A 27-hour day, situation report? None. A brief conversation with the Slovenian soldiers directly at the state border, shaking heads - no comment. Six days on duty, two days off. On the bus to Graz, there is a spontaneous exchange of thoughts, psychological first aid so to speak. A soldier, part of the 25 who were also deployed here, talks about his experiences at the Nickelsdorf border crossing, where attempts were made to buy bus seats with 500 EUR bills or expand the routes. Sleep interrupts the exchange of thoughts on the bus. Nine hours until the next standby deployment. Shower - Facebook - Phone - Good night.

Photos: Austrian Armed Forces

Video: Esterreicher/Youtube. The tense situation in Spielfeld on the evening of October 29, 2015