In the current integration report, presented on Monday by Minister Susanne Raab, Austria is facing two waves of migration this year: firstly from Ukraine and secondly with asylum seekers from Syria, Afghanistan and Iran. So far, more people have sought shelter from us than during the 2015 refugee crisis. Raab sees Austria well prepared, but: “We have to be vigilant!”
Notably, the more than doubled asylum applications (31,000 in the first half of the year) as a result of Putin’s war will add another 80,000 displaced persons from Ukraine. In total, more people applied for protection this year than in the entire crisis year 2015.
2022 so far “exceptional year for migration”
Minister Raab (ÖVP) at the presentation of the eleventh integration report: “2022 was an exceptional year in integration and presents us with a huge task. Austria is prepared, but we must be vigilant.”
More songs:
- More than one in four has a migration background (read more).
- Almost one in three of the approximately 1.1 million students do not speak German as an everyday language.
- Last year, young people with foreign roots were almost twice as likely to be unemployed as young people without a migration background.
- Depending on the state, non-Austrians represent between 45 and more than 60 percent of the benefit recipients.
- Currently 14,000 people are taking German courses.
Federal government in the fight against illegal migration
At the presentation of the integration report, in which Katharina Pabel (chairman of the expert council responsible for integration) and Austria Director-General for Statistics Tobias Thomas also spoke, Raab emphasized that the fight against illegal migration must continue. Minister of the Interior Gerhard Karner is in charge, who – also in collaboration with other states – sets priorities in the fight against organized human trafficking and in the field of external border control.
Romanians second largest migrant group after Germans
What is certain is that the population of Austria will only grow through immigration. Since 2015, the share of the population with a migration background has continuously increased from 21.4 percent to 25.4 percent. The largest group of immigrants are Germans (218,000, as of April 1, 2022), followed by 140,000 Romanians, Serbs (122,000) and Turks (118,000). Bosniaks (98,000) are in fifth place, followed by about 97,000 Croats and 95,000 Hungarians. Some distance behind were 71,000 Syrian and 66,000 Polish nationals.
Source: Krone
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