‘Asylum is something time-limited’: Austria moves to toughen refugee laws
Published time: 3 Nov, 2015 20:40

Facing a record influx of refugees, the Austrian government has proposed measures toughening requirements for asylum seekers and reunification with their families. The UN refugee agency has denounced the move, saying it will lead to more suffering.
A set of new rules, which was proposed on Tuesday and is now being discussed by the parliament, will affect all asylum seekers if it comes into effect on November 15. The new measures are aimed at better distinguishing between those really fleeing war and persecution and those just seeking better life.

According to Austrian Chancellor Werner Faymann, the new regulations should send a clear signal to refugees that the granting of asylum is only a temporary measure not equal to a permanent residence permit.

“Asylum is something time-limited,” he said, as quoted by the Austrian newspaper Der Standard.

The bill envisages a new asylum model for refugees in Austria called “temporary asylum,” in which a person could receive asylum in the country for a period of only three years, as opposed to the present standard of at least five years, Der Standard reports. Currently, a person’s asylum request is reprocessed after this period, taking into account the situation in their country of origin.

If the situation in the asylum seeker’s home country is regarded as safe, the person is asked to return there or faces compulsorily expulsion from Austria in case of refusal to leave the country. If the reason for granting asylum remains, the refugee is allowed to stay in the country for a longer period.

The proposed bill also envisages stricter rules for family reunification, beefing up the criteria required for receiving such permission. Under the new system, the person would need to have a residence that “is regarded as a standard one for a big family under local conditions” as well as a stable income that “will not put financial burden on local community” in case of family reunification. They would also be required to have medical insurance.

As a result, under the new rules a person getting by on unemployment or social benefits would find it nearly impossible to bring family members to Austria. In addition, a refugee could file a request for family reunification only three years after receiving asylum, while at present this ‘waiting period’ amounts to only one year.

However, Andreas Schieder, the leader of the Austrian Social Democrats fraction in the lower house of the country’s parliament, stated that refugees could still be granted the right of family reunification and “one should not think it is somehow limited.”

“This is a political decision. It is important for us to create clear rules here and, of course, to decrease [Austria’s] attractiveness,” Interior Minister Johanna Mikl-Leitner told Austrian ORF radio.

“Making family reunification rules stricter mainly affects Afghans,” she added.

Afghan migrants, the second largest refugee group in Austria, are often young men traveling alone in hopes of being granted asylum and bringing their family to Europe later, which makes them the group that would be most affected by the new rules, German and Austrian media report.

Additionally, the new measures would apply only to those granted “subsidiary protection” in Austria and would not affect those receiving full political asylum in accordance with EU laws, as is the case for most Syrians, Austrian media report.

At the same time, many refugees are already coming to the country with small children or their families, so they will not be affected by the new regulations, said Austrian Minister of Social Affairs Rudolf Hundstorfer, adding that the number of asylum seekers in the country is expected to reach 1 percent of the country’s population, Der Standard reports.

The proposed measures have already sparked criticism. The Vienna office of the UN refugee agency UNHCR claimed they would lead to more people suffering as well as hinder successful integration.

“If legal ways [to migrate] are being shut off, people will use traffickers and take larger risks than was the case up to now in order to rejoin their family and live with them in safety,” said Christoph Pinter, head of UNHCR Austria, as quoted by Reuters.

In the meantime, the situation in the country is becoming increasingly strained. With up to 8,000 migrants crossing the border every day and authorities saying their numbers could soon rise to 12,000, local residents are stocking up on small arms.

Austrians have bought 70,000 guns this year alone, according to police. In a country with an estimated population of 8.5 million, there are currently about 900,000 privately owned guns.

At the same time, the government has been discussing plans to follow Hungary’s example and build a fence on the country’s border with Slovenia, although construction has not reportedly begun yet.

Gluposti, zabranjivati jezike, imati nesto protiv tako neceg pozitivnog, moze samo najobicnija, zadrta, fasistoidna stoka.

Ako hocu da pricam tunguzijski, pricacu. Nikakvo Heimbuchnergovno okrugle, ljigave face, mi to ne moze zabraniti.

Austrija placa nastavu na maternjem jeziku. Dakle, po ustavu imaju to pravo. A ova fasistoidna stoka bi to da zabranjuje. I to u skolskom dvoristu. Smijesno.

Austrija
Dvojcu za poticanje na ubojstvo nevjernika prijeti doživotni zatvor
Omerović, koji je propovjedio pod imenom Ebu Tejma, pokušao je da regrutira desetine mladih za džihad u Siriji.

Tutincu Mirsadu Omeroviću, koji je uhićen u okviru prošlogodišnje akcije austrijske policije protiv islamskih ekstremista, prijeti doživotna zatvorska kazna, a optužnica ga tereti za poticanje ubojstva, prenosi bečki dnevnik Österreich.

Salafisti, koji je već gotovo godinu dana u istražnom pritvoru, tužiteljstvo je pripremilo optužnicu koja ga tereti i za poticanje ubojstva.

U optužnici se navodi da je Omerović u bečkoj džamiji Altun-Alem vrbovao mlade muslimane za džihad u Siriji, kao i da je čak navodio na ubojstva. Za tu optužbu Omeroviću prijeti doživotna zatvorska kazna, jer se poticanje na ubojstvo predviđa ista kazna kao i za ubojstvo.

Tijekom suđenja bit će zanimljivo kako će državno tužiteljstvo u Grazu optužbu za poticanje na ubojstvo dokazati sudu. Navodno postoje telefonski protokoli koje je "prisluškivala" Slobodna sirijska vojska, u kojima se čuje da je Omerović jednog pripadnika Islamske države iz Beča ohrabrio na ubojstvo nevjernika. Najmanje jedno ubojstvo je počinio Omerovićev sugovornik.

Pored poticanja na ubojstvo Omerović se tereti i za terorističko udruživanje. Protiv jednog državljanina BiH, koji je također u istražnom zatvoru, bit će vođeno suđenje za ubojstvo, jer je navodno ubijao u Siriji.

Omerović, koji je propovjedio pod imenom Ebu Tejma, pokušao je da regrutira desetine mladih za džihad u Siriji. Prema informacijama nadležnih vlasti, u najmanje 14 slučajeva on je uspio da pridobije mlade za džihad.

Kurz calls for Islamic school closures

Published: 06 Dec 2015 12:00 GMT+01:00

Austrian integration minister Sebastien Kurz has called for the immediate closure of "many Islamic kindergartens," and insisted on tighter controls to prevent radicalization.

The minister commissioned a study of Islamic kindergartens and associated educational groups in Austria, and was shocked by the findings.

The report, prepared by Professor Ednan Aslan at the Institute for Islamic Studies at the University of Vienna, made for disturbing reading.

According to a report in the Kurier newspaper, the report suggests that many Muslim parents in Austria are seeking to establish a parallel world, which isolates their children from any non-Islamic influences during their formative years.

"Many parents want to create a one hundred percent Islamic environment for their children," said Aslan.

This was usually motivated by a key question asked by the parents: "How do we protect our children from the majority society, before moral decay begins?"

As a result, a competition has now arisen between the kindergartens, as to which one could offer the most conservative and most religious environment.

There are 150 Islamic kindergartens in Vienna, most of which receive state funding. "I am convinced that we should close many of these facilities right away," said Kurz.

Aslan also emphasized that there were many Muslims who were not placing their children with such extremist kindergartens, and these were going to have an easier time with integration.

Concerns

The primary concerns cited by Kurz from the report were as follows:

Personnel: According to Aslan's study, the child minders are almost exclusively devout Muslims, meaning that the children would not be exposed to any alternative views. Many of the staff were trained in two-week crash courses - which in turn are offered by organizations closely linked to the organizers of the kindergartens.

Curriculum: There were significant differences between the official curriculum, which was used as a basis for requesting funding, and what was actually being taught, which was barely different from what can be found in madrassas in predominantly Muslim countries such as Pakistan and Afghanistan.

Language: Although according to the study "almost all children need targeted language support", there is a lack of suitable staff. Many educators are partially trained abroad and "have insufficient [German] language support competence".

In addition, there are kindergartens in which almost no German is spoken - which is absurd, since this was made compulsory at least in the last year of kindergarten for each child, especially to deal with this issue.

Religion: Islam classes often offer an "outdated understanding of sin", and "fail to adequately promote pluralist thought," according to Aslan.

He continued: "Independent thinking and action are not promoted, enforced by the imposition of strict religious rules, and are even made taboo."