2022.10.20 16:07 (act 10.20.2022 16:10)
Asylum applications at record high © APA / dpa central image
According to preliminary asylum statistics published by the Ministry of the Interior on Thursday, 71,885 asylum applications were made in Austria between January and September 2022, almost three times as many as in the first nine months of 2021. At the same time, the department recorded a record number of rejected and abandoned asylum applications: 40,299 people were not granted asylum or the procedure was discontinued due to the applicant’s return or continuation of travel.
In 2021, a total of nearly 40,000 entries were made throughout the year. This year there were nearly 32,000 in the first half of the year, and by the end of September another nearly 40,000 had joined them. Of the nearly 72,000 applications so far, the Federal Bureau of Immigration and Asylum (BFA) has issued a negative decision for 19,535, and 20,764 cases have been filed.
In general, more and more requests come from people who come to the country for economic reasons and who “have virtually no chance of asylum”, according to a transmission from the Interior Ministry. According to statistics, most requests come from people from Afghanistan (about 16,500) or Syria (12,500). After that, however, there are already candidates from India (11,500), Tunisia (almost 8,900) and Pakistan (6,900).
Therefore, priority was given to accelerated procedures for these nationalities. In the first nine months of 2022, around 14,600 expedited procedures for people from these countries of origin were concluded negatively – according to the Ministry of the Interior, four times more than in 2021. 70% of these procedures are decided within 72 hours, the overall average is of almost 30 days.
With applications from people from India and Tunisia – a total of about 20,500 – the Interior Ministry expects the curve to level off once Serbia tightens its visa rules again later in the year.
War-displaced people in Ukraine are not included in these asylum statistics. They fall under the EU directive “Temporary Protection”. About 56,000 Ukrainians are currently in primary care.
The FPÖ called the current figures an “absolute declaration of bankruptcy” by the government. “Illegal mass immigration is out of control,” FPÖ leader Herbert Kickl and security spokesman Hannes Amesbauer said in a broadcast. Instead of continuing to hope for a “Fortress Europe”, Interior Minister Karner should implement an immediate freeze on asylum on Austrian soil.
NEOS asylum spokeswoman Stephanie Krisper, on the other hand, said the number of asylum seekers in primary care is stable at around 20,000. The fact that tents are being set up now is only due to the fact that the ÖVP cannot control or manage its federal states.