Support Joseph and Victoria
Joseph (22) and Victoria (24) Oshakuade are part of the Austrian snowboard community.
Over 8 years ago, they arrived in Austria from Nigeria as unaccompanied teenagers; he was 13, she was 15. They grew up, graduated from high school, and spent their entire youth in Austria, living with a Tyrolean host family whom they consider their own. Now they are facing deportation.
Support the siblings by donating if you can, or by signing the petition and sharing it with your peers:
https://www.gofundme.com/f/helft-joseph-victoria-innsbruck-ist-ihre-heimat
https://mein.aufstehn.at/petitions/joseph-und-victoria-sollen-in-osterreich-bleiben
Joseph and Victoria at a CHILL event at Axamer Lizum // p: Markus Fanninger
Joseph is a student at MCI, and Victoria is completing an IT apprenticeship. In addition to working, Victoria and Joseph are both actively volunteering with the Chill Foundation Snowboard program and at SKAID. Chill is a project that aims to bring kids with refugee backgrounds to the mountains and help them become part of the snow community. According to Sendwitches, an Innsbruck-based organization working with CHILL, the two of them mentor kids with patience, happiness, and a true love of snowboarding. Victoria and Joseph love the mountains, take on responsibility as mentors, and work closely with the organizers. Thus, they help move the projects they are involved in forward and have become integral team members. They are valued for their reliable, friendly, and fun-loving nature, which makes life better for those around them, and have become indispensable members of the communities they engage with.
After spending three days in detention in Vienna, they returned to Innsbruck this week. However, immigration authorities could show up at their apartment anytime and arrest them in order to forcibly deport them to Nigeria by plane. The two are only still in Austria because the Nigerian Embassy has so far refused to sign the entry documents for the West African country.
Following a negative asylum decision, an appeal is pending before the Administrative Court. The uncertainty is taking a huge toll on the two of them. Their community stands united behind them: fellow students, civil society, and political figures, including the Austrian National Union of Students (ÖH), the Minister of Science, and social sector projects such as CHILL and SKAID.
A petition addressing the Austrian Government, as well as a GoFundMe supporting the siblings legally and personally, have been set up and are gaining massive support, with the petition close to its goal of 25.000 signatures. Joseph and Victoria belong with their family and community in Innsbruck, Austria.