Austria is introducing unprecedented restrictions on refugees within the European Union. The Austrian government has announced plans to suspend family reunification for individuals granted asylum or protection status in the country. The decision aims to curb the influx of migrants.
Minister of Integration and Family, Claudia Plakolm, stated that the official decree will be published soon, with the new regulations set to take effect within weeks, no later than May.
“We have reached the limits of our capacity to accept more people,” Plakolm declared. The government argues that the move is necessary to “protect key systems” such as healthcare, education, and the labor market. The minister emphasized that “the likelihood of successful integration decreases with each new arrival,” describing the challenge as “immense” due to refugees’ difficulties in learning German, securing jobs, and finding school placements.
The suspension is initially set for six months but could be extended until 2027. This decision aligns with a broader trend of tightening migration policies across the EU, driven by rising support for far-right parties.
Austria, which took in a significant number of refugees during the 2015 migration crisis, has reported a “sharp increase” in family reunification cases. In 2023, nearly 9,300 such cases were recorded, compared to 7,800 the previous year, in a country of 9.2 million people. The restrictions will primarily affect Syrian refugees, particularly following the fall of Bashar al-Assad’s regime in December 2024.
The decision has drawn criticism from human rights organizations. Lukas Gahleitner, spokesperson for Asylkoordination Österreich, told AFP that “a state of emergency must be justified” for family reunifications to be suspended, which, he argued, “is not the case in Austria.” The organization plans to challenge the decision in court.