Information for refugees and asylum-seekers in Austria – help.unhcr.org Visit our country website - Austria | Österreich (Deutsch) For legislation, case law and UNHCR policy relating to claims for international protection, visit Refworld. This financial assistance is adjusted yearly to match inflation. In July, Austria took over the presidency of the Council of the European Union, a post it will hold for six months. Asylum seekers that are detained in offshore detention centres and immigration detention centres in Australia cannot access any centrelink or other benefit. The issue of asylum benefits in Austria has been a long-contested issue by several members of the ÖVP and by the entirety of the anti-mass migration Freedom Party of Austria (FPÖ), both of whom want to lower the amounts given to asylum seekers. In the next four years, Austria plans to take in a number of refugees amounting to no more than 1.5 percent of its population. You can find more information in our data protection declaration. Asylum-seekers can chose state-run housing, where they receive food and a monthly allowance of €40. A total of 22 social insurance institutions provide health, pension and work accident insurance cover. Read more: Europe can't take in 'new wave of refugees,' says Austrian conservative MP. Sobotka says “Austria has borne the main load from 2014 to 2017,” and “Our system is simply overwhelmed”. You get a blue card. In addition, the FPÖ promises to eliminate all financial incentives for claiming asylum in Austria — by cutting social spending and by switching to non-cash benefits. Privacy Policy | If you are afraid to return to your country of origin, or country of previous residence in case you are stateless because you are in danger of suffering serious harm you can get protection in Austria. Individuals who reject living in state-run housing lose their right to receive benefits. new plans the country's right-wing government has for refugees, Asylum benefits in the EU: How member states compare, Europe can't take in 'new wave of refugees,' says Austrian conservative MP. Language experts, too, say that tying basic human rights to social benefits is highly problematic. For more information on the Austrian asylum procedure see “The asylum procedure in Austria”. Asylum Applications in Austria averaged 2535.31 persons from 2014 until 2020, reaching an all time high of 12015 persons in October of 2015 and a record low of 305 persons in April of 2020. "Laws can't possibly be allowed to push people toward homelessness," he says. Published 28 May 2018. At least where refugee policy is concerned, the hard-line approach taken by the government in Vienna is a clear indicator of its plans for the rest of Europe, © 2020 Deutsche Welle | The manifesto has much less to say on integration. According to the General Administrative Procedures Act (AVG), decisions have to be taken within 6 months after the application for international protection has been submitted. Sobotka says “Austria has borne the main load from 2014 to 2017,” and “Our system is simply overwhelmed”. Austrian lawmakers on Wednesday passed a bill suspending deportations of asylum seekers while they are carrying out apprenticeships, countering the previous right-wing government's hard line … - Asylum seekers receive shelter at government-funded reception centers. They only receive social benefits in absolute emergencies. In the end, nobody's livelihood should be endangered because of a language test — which is exactly what might happen, she explains. They are deliberately aiming at the weakest link, and those are mainly foreigners, he adds. In Austria, the main condition for the standard minimum welfare payment, which is called the needs-based minimum benefit (“bedarfsorientierte Mindestsicherung”), is the need for material assistance. In terms of asylum applications lodged, Austria is the fourth-largest asylum-seeker receiving country in the EU, receiving over 36,400 applications in 2002. That, the she says, never fails to impress her. For information about our work in Austria:. Some 90,000 people applied for asylum in Austria in 2015, about 1% of the country's population. Read more: Asylum benefits in the EU: How member states compare. Read more: Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz: The EU's new power broker? A headscarf ban for young girls is a win for Austria's right-wing government. If you are in a European Union country and have close family members in Austria, you may be able to join them under the so-called Dublin III Regulation if certain criteria are fulfilled. Since 2015, almost 47,000 Afghans have applied for asylum in Austria, from a total of almost 194,000 claims from all countries. Asylum seekers in community detention are able to receive a small weekly allowance to meet daily living expenses. Social insurance in Austria is based on the principles of mandatory insurance, solidarity and autonomy. | Mobile version. You cannot apply for asylum in Austria from abroad. That, she say, is not doable for adult refugees. There appears to be no section that … Refugees who flunk the exam are to receive €300 less. But voter attitudes towards immigrants have hardened due to concerns about security and the economy after Austria took in more than 1 percent of its population in asylum seekers in 2015. He added: “If you look at the asylum seekers, you can see that 90 percent are migrating to the needs-oriented minimum security system,” and said it was still of great importance to maintain border security. Refugees who flunk the exam are to receive €300 less. ", Everyone in Gsell's class has a story to tell. It follows the UK, Germany, and France. Contact "Learning German is very important for me," Emmanuel says, "so I can speak with friends, and find work later on. "That is absurd," says Chalupka. The Austrian asylum authorities will examine your application and will make a decision in accordance with European Union and Austrian legislation. Students from Syria, Afghanistan, Serbia and Iran sit in her current class. Legal notice | Every additional individual living in the same household gets an extra €102. "They came here under the worst of circumstances, they all face difficult situations — but every morning, my students show up here with their homework done. Currently, migrants in the country who don't learn enough German face cuts in benefits. As of 2015, asylum-seekers receive a monthly allowance of €204. Chalupka is very critical of refugee policy in general under hard-line Chancellor Sebastian Kurz, which includes reducing language classes for migrants nationwide while introducing language tests at an advanced-learner level for those who have been officially granted asylum status. ", Iranian student Emmanuel says learning German is important if he wants to find work in Austria. "We also offer language classes for asylum-seekers — not just once they are approved, but from the start." Michael Chalupka, who heads Diakonie in Austria, says that their "Integration from day 1" project has been successful thus far. The Ministry of Interior opened an inquiry into the … ... Austria unveils plan to cut benefits for immigrants. Can they access health care? Verena Plutzar of SprachenRechte, a language rights network, who has more than 10 years of experience with people learning German, is convinced the level of the planned language tests is too high. Minister of the Interior Ernst Strasser issued the directive, which took effect on October 1, excluding asylum seekers from certain countries from the … At Austria's main asylum center in Traiskirchen, about 20 km (12 miles) south of Vienna, overcrowding became so severe this summer that up to 2,000 people had to sleep outdoors. In 2014, the tasks of the BAF were further extended to cover some immigration law procedures. Under a proposed law, families will only receive full welfare benefits of €863 ($1,007) if they successfully pass a challenging language test. The move is out of proportion and it violates exam ethics, says Plutzar, explaining that conditions would simply not be fair. Asylum means you can stay in Austria for 3 years. Austria is debating a host of measures proposed by the interior minister intended to tighten the right of asylum, so that procedures could be quicker and asylum-seekers checked more strictly. The students quickly learn to trust one another and open up a little bit, she says, stressing how important it is that they feel comfortable. In a third and final six-month phase, applicants are allowed to work. Since then, there have been periodic waves of asylum seekers from South East Asia and the Middle East, with government policy and public opinion changing over the years.. Every morning, Waltraud Gsell teaches German to refugees at Diakonie, a protestant social welfare organization in Vienna. Special vocabulary would be called for that students as a rule only know after an average two years of intensive language training. They are organised in an umbrella organisation called ‘Main Association of A… The three provinces have cut benefits for new arrivals, even after obtaining asylum, to around 570 euros ($669) a month, less than half the poverty threshold of 1,200 euros, compared with around 850 euros for an Austrian who has never lived abroad. 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