At the invitation of Integration Minister Susanne Raab (VP), 25 ministers, state secretaries and civil servants met in Vienna on Thursday for the European Integration Conference. Society is currently in a difficult situation, said Susanne Raab. In view of the increasing number of asylum seekers, integration is an “incredible Herculean task”.
“We still see a very, very high level of solidarity, acceptance and support” among the Austrian population, Raab explained. At the same time, the minister acknowledged that the provision of private housing for the Ukrainian displaced persons “may have an expiry date”. You will therefore have to rely more on public quarters. More about this in the video:
Different information
According to Raab, around 80,000 displaced persons from Ukraine are currently registered in Austria. In its current asylum statistics, however, the Ministry of the Interior spoke of around 65,000 Ukrainians.
According to Raab, 30 percent of the Ukrainian displaced persons specifically expressed the wish to return to their home country in the next few weeks. The minister was “optimistic” about the high level of qualifications and “the great desire” to integrate. However, since mainly children and women come to Austria, “special measures” are needed for integration.
Most of the other refugees who come to Austria are men, as shown by the current asylum statistics from the Ministry of the Interior: Of the 31,050 applications, only 2015 were made by women. Most of the applicants were men from Afghanistan and Syria. Those displaced by war from Ukraine are not included in these asylum statistics. Because they fall under the EU directive “Temporary Protection”.
In the same period last year, there were 10,867 asylum applications, which is an increase of more than 185 percent. In the whole of last year, 40,000 people applied for asylum.
In addition to Afghans and Syrians, Tunisians, Pakistanis and Indians submitted the most applications. However, the latter three are considered safe countries of origin, so the probability of refugees staying is more than low.
“The situation in the asylum area continues to escalate,” said FPÖ security spokesman Hannes Amesbauer. The Ministry of the Interior is not doing anything, meanwhile the numbers are an order for immediate action. “The right of asylum must be suspended for foreigners who enter Austria through safe third countries,” he demanded.
Source: Nachrichten
