In the first ten months of 2023, a quarter more refugees had to leave the country than in the previous year. In these forced deportations out of the country, more than 45 percent of people have a criminal conviction.
The number of refugees leaving Austria has increased significantly this year. According to current figures from the Ministry of the Interior, a total of 10,478 deportations took place between January and the end of October, of which 5,496 were voluntary (52 percent) and 4,982 were forced (48 percent). This represents a 25 percent increase in deportations out of the country compared to the previous year – with a decline in asylum applications in 2023 of almost 50 percent. Last year, 8,403 people were evacuated from the country in the first ten months.
More than 45 percent of people who are forcibly removed from the country have a criminal conviction. According to its own information, the Federal Office of Immigration and Asylum (BFA) continues to focus on increasing the number of people removed from the country. In addition to numerous individual returns, a total of six charter returns have been made in the last two weeks. In total, ten charter repatriations have been carried out from Dublin to Bulgaria so far in 2023, as well as seven to Romania and Croatia.
Meanwhile, a response from the Ministry of the Interior to Liberal MP Hannes Amesbauer shows that the number of people receiving basic care through the asylum route is increasing slightly. In September, almost 19,000 asylum seekers, around 3,200 people entitled to asylum and almost 10,300 people entitled to subsidiary protection were under this care. That’s about 4,000 more than the same period last year. The last time there was a higher figure was in 2018, when Herbert Kickl (FPÖ) headed the interior department. Although the number of people entitled to asylum and people entitled to subsidiary protection was similar to this year, the number of asylum seekers receiving basic care was significantly higher, around 32,000 people.
It is clear that the largest group currently receiving basic care are not asylum seekers, but people displaced from Ukraine. (APA)