Asylum: Halt on Family Reunification Approaches
The temporary halt of family reunification for refugees is now becoming serious. The Council of Ministers approved the corresponding regulation on Wednesday. In a few days, the regulation will be enacted by the main committee. According to this, applications can be submitted, but they will not be processed for at least the next six months, with exceptions.
Interior Minister Gerhard Karner (ÖVP) justified the measure once again in the press foyer after the government meeting, citing an overload of the systems in Austria. The head of the department mentioned, for example, an increase in youth crime, especially by Syrian offenders, as well as the temporary necessity to set up container classes.
Recently Little Family Reunification
Of course, the temporary stop is unlikely to change much at the moment. In May, there were only 70 entries under the title of family reunification - mainly because applications from Syrians have not been processed since the change of power in Damascus. Karner justified the hindrance of applications by stating that a more sustainable solution is needed.
Normally, with the adoption of the regulation in the main committee, applications for family reunification should only be processed in exceptional cases. This would essentially concern cases where there are no suitable caregivers on site for young people. This can refer to both young people who have traveled to Austria in advance and those whose parents left them behind in their country of origin during their escape.
Deportations to Syria
Austria recently also made serious efforts to resume deportations to Syria. The deportation of a convicted criminal ultimately failed only because the Syrian airspace was closed due to the escalation of the Middle East conflict. Karner left open how they will proceed in this matter when asked.
The Interior Minister emphasized not commenting on individual cases. The goal must be - and he is working hard on this - to be able to deport to both Afghanistan and especially Syria again. This primarily concerns criminals and threats.
(APA/Red)
This article has been automatically translated, read the original article here.