Immigration: Austria reports on integration of refugees

Audio 3:15

Muhammed, a 16-year-old from Damascus in Syria, learns German with the help of an Austrian volunteer in a reception center on April 1, 2016 in Vienna. Christian Science Monitor / Getty Images

By: Isaure Hiace

While the situation has been tense on the Greek-Turkish border since Ankara decided to open its borders, Austria presented on Thursday March 5 a report on the integration of refugees who have arrived in the country since 2015.

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Austria is one of the European countries that, in proportion, received the most refugees during the 2015-2016 crisis, a crisis that left traces in this country of just under 9 million inhabitants. Around 200,000 people have applied for asylum in Austria since 2015, of which 110,000 have received a positive response according to figures presented this week by Conservative Integration Minister Susanne Raab. The latter insisted on the costs of this reception, explaining that accommodation in asylum centers cost more than two billion euros and that 70,000 German lessons and 100,000 valuables lessons were given to these new arrivals. According to the minister, Austria " has not yet overcome the consequences of 2015 ", hence its warning about the current situation, while Turkey has opened its borders with Greece to allow migrants to pass. " We must not suggest that if we can get to Greece, we can get to Austria afterwards, " insisted the Conservative minister.

A clear message from the Austrian conservatives

In recent days, the extreme right but also the conservatives have regularly raised the specter of a crisis similar to that known in 2015. Chancellor Sebastian Kurz has thus denounced a " attack " by Turkey against the European Union and pleaded for the protection of external borders so that " 2015 does not happen again ". Except that today Sebastian Kurz no longer leads Austria with the extreme right but with the Greens, a new coalition in power since last January. Environmentalists do not share this position. Vice-Chancellor Werner Kogler even made a proposal that was completely counter to this speech: welcoming women and children who are in overcrowded asylum centers on the Greek islands. Proposal immediately rejected by the Conservatives. Werner Kogler had to recognize that it was a personal opinion, but he received the support of several environmental ministers and members of the party, including that of the President of the Republic, Alexander Van der Bellen.

Does this weaken the Austrian coalition?

The two parties probably did not expect the migration issue to be prompted in this way and so quickly in the debates. They did indeed include in their program a device unprecedented in Austrian political life, which allows, in the event of a migration crisis, each of the two partners to join forces with other parties to have a law passed. But they probably thought it would never be used. There is less certainty today on this subject, although the two partners deny it. What is certain is that they will closely monitor the situation on the Greek-Turkish border in the days to come. The Greek Prime Minister will also be received next Tuesday by Chancellor Sebastian Kurz.

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  • Austria
  • Immigration
  • International Migration

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