VIENNA – Synthesizers, guitars, and voices singing in three different languages populate the Top 10 on Austria’s music charts — but the song which reigns supreme on the list features none of them.

Instead, the silent protest song “Schweigeminute (Traiskirchen)” of the native Vienna artist Raoul Haspel has risen to the top of the country’s music charts.  Traiskirchen is the site of an infamously overcrowded refugee camp south of Vienna where the song, whose title translates as “Silent Minute” was composed.

Austrian artist Raoul Haspel captures shock, confusion, and the inability to form words in his silent protest track (Raoul Haspel.)

“I was speechless in the face of the conditions, which are unworthy of human beings,” Haspel explained in an interview with Vice News.  Seeing the conditions alerted the artist to what he described as “the incredible failure of the Austrian government and of European policy.”

“It seems like I’ve found the right words for this situation, which is no words at all,” he said.

For those who have put words to describe the camp at Traiskirchen, they have included “inhumane,” “unsanitary,” and “shameful.”  The camp is currently estimated to be operating at 250% capacity, with roughly 1,500 migrants devoid of shelter and sleeping in the open air.  Others have used abandoned buses and buildings as makeshift covering.

Raoul Haspel chose silence for his piece because “the debate just gets louder and louder” (Facebook.)

Like many other locations in the European Union, Traiskirchen has become the temporary home of thousands fleeing political conflict and violence.  The three most prominent groups of refugees currently arriving in Austria are Syrians, Kosovars, and Afghanis.

Debate about Europe’s policy toward refugees has taken an increasingly central role in the continent’s political arena.

Haspel described his song as working “against the scandal-seeking of mainstream media, against the flood of images and news that is killing empathy” for the migrants who in many cases completed journeys of thousands of miles on foot.

Thousands go without adequate food, shelter, or medical care in the Traiskirchen refugee camp, condemned by the United Nations and human rights groups (BBC.)

The for-profit Swiss firm ORS which is administrating the camp was paid €21 million ($23.8 million USD) by the Austrian government in 2014 (link in German.)

At a rate of €19 ($22 USD) per refugee hosted, the group is incentivized to take in as many migrants as possible regardless of the conditions they face.  ORS also operated camps in Germany and Switzerland, earning a total of €65 million ($74 million USD) in taxpayer dollars in 2014.

Austria’s newspaper Die Presse reported that nonprofit organizations have been barred by the company from entering the camp to give aid.

Makeshift tents are the only shelter available to thousands of refugees in Traiskirchen, where summer days commonly reach over 38º Celsius (100º Fahrenheit.) The Swiss firm ORS profits each day from these refugees, kept in conditions which Raoul Haspel shows can only leave one speechless (AFP.)

Meanwhile, Haspel has pledged to donate all proceeds of sales of his song to the well-being of the refugees. The platforms hosting it, iTunes, Amazon, and Google Play, traditionally keep 30% of revenue from sales as their own profit.  The artist hopes that they will waive the commission in this case, but has promised to cover the difference if they do not.

“Every cent of the sale goes toward aid for people in the asylum processing center in Traiskirchen,” said Haspel.

“Schweigeminute (Traiskirchen)” is available for download at the iTunes, Amazon, and Google Play stores.