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Tougher rules for asylum seekers in Burgenland

Asylum seekers: The SPÖ-Burgenland criticizes the lack of an upper limit.(Bild: Christian Schulter)

Refugees in Burgenland are to be required to do community work in future. Refusal to do so will result in the loss of support, the provincial SPÖ has announced.

At the beginning of the year, Governor Hans Peter Doskozil and the SPÖ parliamentary group presented their own position paper on asylum, migration and integration. They also called for an upper limit of 10,000 asylum applications. Reason: Austria has over-provisioned and the systems are overloaded. In order to increase pressure on the Ministry of the Interior, the SPÖ announced that if this upper limit was not adhered to, only 330 asylum seekers per year would be accepted into basic care. This has already been implemented by a decision of the provincial government.

We are thus implementing further announced measures for basic care, which will only exist in this form in Burgenland.

Klubobmann Roland Fürst (SPÖ)

Initiative motion in the state parliament
"In the meantime, around 20,000 asylum applications have been submitted and our demand for an upper limit has been exceeded by 100 percent," criticizes SPÖ party leader Roland Fürst. An initiative motion will therefore be tabled in parliament on Thursday in order to implement further announced measures within the framework of basic care. In future, asylum seekers will be required to do community service. Refusal will result in the loss of support. "Anyone who receives a negative asylum decision will also no longer receive any benefits under Burgenland's basic welfare system, apart from return assistance; the current practice is unsatisfactory," says Fürst.

Further resolutions are due to be passed at the state parliament session, such as the Municipal Funds Act, the National Parks Act and the Spatial Planning Act. "We will continue to work consistently until the last day of this period in January, as we promised," said the club leader.