Growing pressure to migrate
“No compelling danger in large parts of Syria”
Foreign Minister Alexander Schallenberg and seven EU countries want to clear the way for deportations to Syria and Afghanistan. According to Schallenberg, there is "no compelling danger to life and limb" there.
Schallenberg is currently recovering from pneumonia in hospital, but he was nevertheless prepared to give some answers on the subject of deportations from his sickbed.
As the "Krone" initiative "The Voice of Austria" shows, the desire for deportations if those seeking protection do not abide by our rules and values runs through all levels of society.
Schallenberg does not want to gloss over anything, even if solutions to the migration problem can now be seen in the EU. "The migratory pressure on Europe and Austria will not abate. A look at the trouble spots surrounding Europe shows that," says Schallenberg.
"No credible asylum system"
Deportations are an important pillar of the asylum system. "Without the return of those who do not have the right to stay, however, there can be no credible asylum system," emphasizes Schallenberg.
Embassy in Iraq increased deportations
The Foreign Ministry is therefore negotiating agreements with a number of countries to facilitate returns. Six new agreements of this kind were added in 2023 alone, for example with Morocco and Iraq.
The opening of the embassy in Baghdad in the fall of 2023 was also an important step in advancing deportations. Since then, the Austrian embassy in Baghdad has delivered a positive result: The rate of readmissions has increased by more than 50 percent compared to the same period last year. This is a success that was only possible thanks to the operational contacts that our embassy has established on the ground.
"We have to change that"
Until now, the deportation of Syrians and Afghans has been taboo. They are currently only deported to third countries. "We have to change that," demands Schallenberg. Together with seven other EU states, Schallenberg has made a push within the EU to finally deport people to Syria.
"Large parts of the country are free of fighting and there is not necessarily a danger to life and limb. The same applies to Afghanistan. The good news is that European courts are also seeing it that way for the first time."
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