Plans at federal level

Cautious SPÖ praise in asylum policy comes as a surprise

Refugees were picked up again early in the morning on Wednesday in Nikitsch.(Bild: Privat)

The new federal government's plans for asylum, migration and integration have met with a very positive response in Burgenland. For the first time, there is praise. In the daily routine of the assistance mission, the apprehensions in the towns near the border continue. The situation is upsetting, but manageable.

It was only on Ash Wednesday that refugees once again caused unrest and highly emotional debates in the border towns in Burgenland. Early in the morning, they marched across the border from Hungary into Austria and wandered through the streets of Nikitsch. Soldiers on assistance duty were quickly on the scene.

"It continues lively"
"The immigrants appeared exhausted and somewhat chilled," they said. The refugees were able to wrap themselves in aluminum blankets to warm up. "It goes on", read a post on a social media platform shortly afterwards, referring to the incessant migration movements in the border region.

Increase is expected
A scenario similar to that in Nikitsch is repeated at almost regular intervals in Deutschkreutz. Compared to the past, the arrivals currently only affect small groups of three to a maximum of six refugees. However, with the rising temperatures, a slight increase in illegal border crossings is expected again.

"Curb immigration quickly!"
SPÖ parliamentary group chairman Roland Fürst takes an unusual tone on the subject of "migration". Instead of criticizing, he "cautiously praises" the federal government. "Despite the decline in asylum applications, almost 25,000 applications were submitted in 2024. That is significantly more than the 10,000 we demanded. In this respect, however, the broad commitment of the federal government to reduce family reunification to a necessary level, for example, is to be welcomed," explains Fürst.

When it comes to immigration, he sees a paradigm shift across party lines: "Austria has been disproportionately burdened with almost 450,000 asylum applications since 2015, and the problems in the education system and in security are evident. Only rapid, targeted measures will help."

Fewer asylum applications
The Ministry of the Interior can point to a significant decrease in asylum applications. A total of 1918 applications were submitted in January - compared to 2287 in the first month of last year. 4288 applications were registered in January 2023.

The comparison across Europe is even clearer: 62,216 asylum applications were registered. This is 24 percent or 19,256 fewer cases than in the same period in 2024 (81,472).