Asylum seeker in Austria stabs himself

A Nigerian teenager stabbed himself in the stomach in a public square Monday after he was denied asylum in Austria, police said.

The 18-year-old man, who has not been identified, has been hospitalized and his life is not in danger, according to police in the Upper Austrian city of Linz.

The incident occurred in mid-afternoon on a square in the Upper Austrian town of Steyr, police said. Earlier in the day, the man had been told that his application for asylum had been denied and that he would have to leave the country.

The Austria Press Agency reported that the man had lived in Austria for about two and a half years and that he had distributed flyers drawing attention to his situation before he injured himself.

The incident occurred amid a debate about the expulsion of asylum seekers.

Late last month, a 15-year-old girl managed to elude authorities who deported her father and four siblings back to their native Kosovo after authorities determined they were not asylum seekers but people looking for a better life. They had been told to leave on their own accord but declined to do so.

She went into hiding and has threatened to kill herself unless her family is reunited in Austria. The deportation set off protests from sympathetic Austrians.