15,000 Indians and 11,400 Tunisians had sought asylum between January and October this year, compared to 611 and 328 last year
On December 5, Austria blamed migrants from India and North Africa for giving rise to a migration wave by filing hopeless asylum claims, reported thenationalnews.com.
Austrian Interior Minister Gerhard Karner said 100 Tunisians per day were being intercepted at the border at the height of the surge last month.
He said 15,000 Indians and 11,400 Tunisians had sought asylum between January and October this year, compared to 611 and 328 last year.
Austria considers India and Tunisia as safe countries whose citizens are unlikely to be eligible for asylum. “We have seen a whole new phenomenon of asylum applications from people who have practically no chance of asylum,” Karner said. He said Morocco was another country where Austria had launched “counter-marketing” campaigns urging people not to come.
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Incidentally, German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock signed a pact with India on December 5 to make deportations easier for people without legal status
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The agreement signed during a visit to New Delhi is also meant to encourage qualified Indians to move to Germany legally
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The move came as German businesses face a severe labour shortage in the aftermath of the coronavirus pandemic
Landlocked Austria says many of the migrants enter from Hungary after arriving in Europe in nearby Serbia. Karner said numbers had come down after EU candidate Serbia agreed to scrap visa-free travel for Indians and Tunisians. “In order that we can help those who truly need it, we have to prevent our system becoming overburdened,” Karner said.
Karner urged the EU to toughen its rules so that people with criminal records could be stripped of asylum more easily. Austria’s Interior Ministry said about 60,000 people were in limbo after having their asylum applications denied.
Incidentally, German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock signed a pact with India on December 5 to make deportations easier for people without legal status. The agreement signed during a visit to New Delhi is also meant to encourage qualified Indians to move to Germany legally. The move came as German businesses face a severe labour shortage in the aftermath of the coronavirus pandemic.
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