Family Reunification Almost Stopped: Only One Entry in November

The recently extended halt on family reunification is showing a clear impact. According to the Ministry of the Interior, there was only one actual entry under this title in November. In November of the previous year, there were still 241 people, and in the comparison month of 2023, even 1,146. Overall, the decline in asylum numbers continued in the penultimate month of the year.

Family Reunification Almost Completely Halted

In the first eleven months, there were 15,337 applications, which corresponds to a decrease of almost exactly 35 percent. Only 6,417 of these were original, meaning from newly arrived persons (thus not from newborn children, etc.). In November, when 1,012 asylum applications were received, the decline was 46 percent above the monthly average. Just over half of the applications this year so far have come from individuals under 18 years old. 41.4 percent of the total applications were submitted by women.

According to the Ministry of the Interior, there is still the factor that many Afghan women, following a European ruling, can now obtain asylum more easily and therefore try to upgrade from subsidiary protection to an asylum title.

Most Applications from Afghans

Afghans, with 4,843 asylum applications this year, are also at the top of the ranking, followed by Syrians (3,865) and Somalis (931). For the first time in many decades, deportations to all three countries were carried out again this year.

In total, there have been 12,883 deportations abroad so far this year according to preliminary figures. Of these, 52 percent were voluntary. Of those deported, nearly 50 percent were criminally convicted according to the Ministry of the Interior.

Nearly 12,000 times (11,185) a protection status was granted in the first eleven months of this year. Asylum status was granted over 7,700 times, with the rest distributed between subsidiary protection and humanitarian residence permits. High recognition rates in asylum procedures were particularly seen among Afghans at 75 percent. The number of recognized women was significantly higher than that of men (around 2,550 compared to about 1,990). For Syrians, the asylum recognition rate dropped to 22 percent this year. However, subsidiary protection was granted most frequently to Syrians, in 1,140 cases.

FPÖ sees "pure sham"

The Freedom Party sees this as a "pure sham". After all, this temporary measure is not a real stop. "Everything follows, just with a delay, and people see through that," argued FPÖ General Secretary Michael Schnedlitz. Austria rather urgently needs "consistent zero immigration, consistent repatriations, and a seamless securing of our borders." The 15,337 asylum applications in the first eleven months, mostly from Afghans, Syrians, and Somalis, are the "proof in numbers that nothing is moving in the 'right direction'." Comparing the numbers with direct neighboring countries like Hungary, one can see that Karner and the ÖVP are "blowhards and failures."

Interior Minister Gerhard Karner (ÖVP) praised the stop of family reunification as a "concrete measure of this federal government to sustainably reduce the number of asylum applications." It is "tough but fair" to relieve the systems, said Karner.

(APA/Red)

This article has been automatically translated, read the original article here.