Minister for Integration Susanne Raab (ÖVP) presented the integration report for 2023 on Monday. One detail immediately stands out: 40 percent of Austrians believe that living together with migrants does not work well.
Austria’s population is now only growing through immigration, and the birth rate is falling. More than a quarter of the people living in this country now have a migration background. “Without immigration, the population would shrink to the level of the 1950s by 2080,” Tobias Thomas, CEO of Statistics Austria, emphasized on Monday at the presentation of the integration report.
Syrians are the fastest growing group
German citizens continue to form the largest group, followed by Romanian, Turkish and Serbian citizens. In places five to ten are citizens of Hungary, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Syria, Ukraine and Poland.
Since 2015, the biggest increases have been among people with Syrian, Romanian, Ukrainian, German and Hungarian citizenship. However, the number of immigrants is also falling, Thomas pointed out: “In 2023, we will have only 66,600 immigrants, a decrease of more than 50 percent. The number of asylum applications is also falling, with 59,000 asylum applications in 2023, almost half of the previous year.
Four in ten think living together is ‘rather bad’
Nevertheless, the integration of immigrants from other cultures in particular continues to pose major challenges for the country – which is also perceived by the Austrian population. Because critical voices have increased significantly here. In 2022, 25 percent of respondents rated coexistence as “fairly bad” and “bad”. Four out of ten respondents now say that coexistence with migrants does not work well.
Immigrants, on the other hand, experience coexistence somewhat more positively; 61.3 percent of people born abroad rate coexistence in the country as “very good” and “good”. When it comes to the question of whether they feel more at home in Austria or in their country of origin, the length of stay also plays a role. The longer immigrants live in Austria, the greater the chance that they will feel a sense of belonging to the country.
Knowledge of German and the labor market as a driving force for integration
Lawyer Katharina Pabel, a member of the expert council that is to develop the ÖVP concept of an ‘Austrian guide culture’, stressed that language and early integration into the labour market are particularly important drivers for a functioning society. However, it is not necessarily relevant that you first speak perfect German; even with basic knowledge you can find a job. “In short: get started quickly and continue working on the language at the same time.”
Integration Minister Raab concluded by noting that a five-year waiting period was needed to receive full social assistance: “This creates incentives for people to enter the labour market and makes illegal migration less attractive.” The federal government said: “It cannot be the case that young men in particular in Vienna are stuck in the social system for years while workers are needed in western Austria.”
“Need for qualified personnel”
The minister stressed that we must continue to combat illegal migration, but remain attractive to qualified immigrants. “We need people who already have a qualification and are ready to enter the Austrian labour market as quickly as possible. “We still have a great need for well-qualified workers,” Raab concluded.
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.
