Syrians in Austria () include migrants from Syria to Austria, as well as their descendants. The number of Syrians in Austria is estimated at 95,000 people as of January 2024,
and it consists mainly of
refugees of the Syrian Civil War.
Migration history
During the
European migrant crisis
The 2015 European migrant crisis was a period of significantly increased movement of refugees and Human migration, migrants into Europe, mostly from the Middle East. An estimated 1.3 million people came to the continent to request Right of asyl ...
of 2014–2015 hundreds of thousands of
Syrian refugees of the Syrian Civil War entered Austria to seek refugee status. The European migrant crisis was especially accelerated when on 4 September 2015, Chancellor
Werner Faymann
Werner Faymann (; born 4 May 1960) is an Austrian former politician who was Chancellor of Austria and chairman of the Social Democratic Party of Austria (SPÖ) from 2008 to 2016. On 9 May 2016, he resigned from both positions amid widening critic ...
of Austria, in conjunction with Chancellor
Angela Merkel
Angela Dorothea Merkel (; ; born 17 July 1954) is a German retired politician who served as Chancellor of Germany from 2005 to 2021. She is the only woman to have held the office. She was Leader of the Opposition from 2002 to 2005 and Leade ...
of Germany, announced that migrants would be allowed to cross the border from Hungary into Austria and onward to Germany, and early on 5 September 2015, buses with migrants began crossing the Austro-Hungarian border.
Notable people
*
Tarafa Baghajati
Tarafa Baghajati (, born September 1, 1961) is a Syrian-born, Austrian Muslim activist and writer. He is a founding member of the Islamic group "Initiative muslimischer ÖsterreicherInnen" (IMÖ). He has lived in Vienna, Austria since 1986.
Life ...
, activist and writer of Syrian origin
*
Omar Hamdi
Omar Hamdi (1952–2015), known as Malva, was a Syrian Kurdish artist who lived and worked in Vienna, Austria.
Biography
Omar Hamdi was born in 1952 in Al-Hasakah, Syria
Syria, officially the Syrian Arab Republic, is a country in West ...
, artist of Syrian-Kurdish origin
*
Alisar Ailabouni, fashion and model
*
Fadi Merza
Fadi Merza (born 8 March 1978) is a Syrian-born Austrian retired middleweight kickboxer. Merza was a multiple world kickboxing and Muay Thai champion.
Biography and career
Early years
Fadi Merza was born in Al-Dirbasiyah, Syria. He was ten y ...
, kickboxing and Muay Thai of Syrian origin
*
Nadja Maleh
Nadja Maleh (born 9 June 1972 in Vienna) is an Austrian actress, singer, cabaret artist and director.
Life and work
file:Lenaugasse 1a Kabarett Niedermair.JPG, 200px, left, The Kabarett Niedermair
Nadja Maleh is the daughter of a Syrian physic ...
, Austrian actress, singer, cabaret artist and director.
See also
*
Arabs in Austria
* Kurds in Austria
*
Turks in Austria
Turks in Austria, also referred to as Turkish Austrians and Austrian Turks, (; ) are people of Turkish ethnicity living in Austria. They form the largest ethnic minority group in the country; thus, the Turks are the second largest ethnic group ...
*
Immigration to Austria
*
Islam in Austria
Islam in Austria is the largest minority religion in the country, practiced by 7.9% of the total population in 2016 according to the Austrian Academy of Sciences. The majority of Muslims in Austria belong to the Sunni denomination. Most Muslims ...
*
Syrian diaspora
Syrian diaspora refers to Syrian people and their descendants who chose or were forced to emigrate from Syria and now reside in other countries as immigrants, or as refugees of the Syrian Civil War.
The estimated number of people of Syrian ...
References
Middle Eastern diaspora in Austria
Ethnic groups in Austria
Austria
Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...
{{Europe-ethno-group-stub