In the debate that has been going on for months about the family reunification of Syrian children and women and the associated imbalance – almost all families go to Vienna – AMS boss Johannes Kopf proposes a kind of ‘social security requirement’.
The states could therefore conclude an agreement establishing the following: Only the state where the person resided during the asylum procedure is responsible for providing refugees with minimum security.
Keep people in regions
If, for example, they were to move from Tyrol to Vienna, there would no longer be any social benefits there. The refugees cannot submit a new application, Kopf explains to “Profil”. According to Kopf, this would be arranged through a so-called 15a agreement between the federal states. If the entire family lives on a minimum income, the losses would be even greater if they moved to Vienna. Conversely, such a ‘social assistance requirement’ could keep people in regions where there is more work and get them out of the minimum income more quickly.
ÖVP still against residency requirement
The NEOS has been advocating for a residence requirement or residence requirement since 2016. It must keep recognized refugees in the first state where they were granted asylum for three years. The mayor of Vienna, Michael Ludwig (SPÖ), is also in favor of it. The ÖVP has not yet entered into a debate and sees the federal capital as solely responsible for the large number of family reunions.
The social benefits, which are sometimes significantly higher compared to those of the federal states, would attract more and more refugees to the capital. On Saturday, Styrian Governor Christopher Drexler (ÖVP) called in a broadcast for a “new family reunification scheme for asylum seekers, which would lead to a significant restriction”. Austria and Styria are already more than challenged by migration “from other cultural areas. If hundreds more people are added due to family reunification, that will no longer be possible.”
Municipal council chairman Johannes Pressl does not support the ÖVP party. He said he would welcome a residency requirement based on the Swedish model. In Sweden, basic support for refugees exists for three to six months, combined with a residency requirement. He does not believe in uprooting people from the living environment they have been used to for years, but he is convinced: ‘Integration can generally be more successful in communities and smaller towns if there are close ties with the village community or even friendships. to exist. made.”
Source: Krone
I am Ida Scott, a journalist and content author with a passion for uncovering the truth. I have been writing professionally for Today Times Live since 2020 and specialize in political news. My career began when I was just 17; I had already developed a knack for research and an eye for detail which made me stand out from my peers.
