“In line with the Geneva Refugee Convention”, Interior Minister Karl Nehammer (VP) saw his priorities in the Afghanistan crisis yesterday before a special summit with EU counterparts. According to this, “local aid” in the northern neighboring countries (Turkmenistan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan, note) is now about “keeping the majority of the people in the region”.
Austria will initially provide three million euros from the foreign disaster fund. In a second step, Nehammer calls for the establishment of deportation centers in the region. The “external landing platforms” announced by the EU Commission in 2018 must finally be implemented. At the same time, the EU’s external border protection must now be strengthened.
This is the only way to declare war on the “organized crime of illegal smuggling”. Nehammer spoke of “irregular asylum seekers” when they travel 5000 kilometers to get to Europe. To date, 44,000 Afghans have reached Austria “in bulk via illegal smuggling”. Measured by the number of inhabitants, it has the second highest admission rate in the EU after Sweden. “Austria continues to deport Afghans according to European law,” affirmed the Interior Minister. Postscript: Especially if they have committed a criminal offense. This is important “to maintain the credibility of the rule of law”.
Leading role
SP leader Pamela Rendi-Wagner described it as “irresponsible” to think about how to deport people there on the day the Taliban came to power. Austria and the EU should now play a leading role in helping people flee and helping to stabilize Afghanistan.
Rendi-Wagner advocates making the payment of aid funds conditional, such as security guarantees for the population and the recognition of rights for women and girls. In order to prevent dangerous refugee movements to Europe, “a kind of Turkey deal” with neighboring countries should create safe protection zones.
For FP security spokesman Hannes Amesbauer it is important to “put up a clearly visible stop sign” in order to fend off an onslaught like 2015.
Caritas President Michael Landau appealed to the federal government to quickly start a humanitarian admission program for those particularly in need of protection.
