Detention of natives from Chechnya in Austria caused a surge of anti-migrant sentiments, residents of Northern Caucasus assert

After detention in Austria of Chechen natives who wanted to join the oppositional armed groupings in Syria, the European society has intensified its anti-migrant sentiments: leaders of right-wing parties urge not to give asylum to natives of Chechnya, natives of Northern Caucasus living in Europe report.

A representative of the Vainakh Public Council said, in his turn, that the Diaspora did not support the detainees' actions.

The "Caucasian Knot" correspondent was told by a native of Dagestan named Arslan that the Austrian government had announced that it would work towards revoking the "jihadists" of the refugee status. According to his story, several attacks on Muslim women wearing hijabs have been recently committed in Vienna.

Cases of involvement of natives from Northern Caucasus, living in Europe, in the Syria warfare are rare and do not allow speaking about a trend, said Ekkehard Maas, the chairman of the German-Caucasian Society in Berlin. According to his version, German authorities are monitoring any appearance of radical Islamism not only among Chechens, but also in other ethnic groups.

In June 2013, the Chechen leadership admitted that from a few hundreds up to seventeen hundred Chechen natives were at war in Syria.