Despite high acceptance – Raab: Integration remains a “Herculese task”

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Amid several current crises, the integration of IDPs is a particular challenge for Minister Susanne Raab (ÖVP). With inflation and the pandemic, society as a whole is already in a difficult situation, Raab said on Thursday on the sidelines of the European Integration Conference in Vienna. Therefore, given the increasing number of asylum seekers, integration is an “incredible Herculean task”.

“We are still seeing a very, very high level of solidarity, acceptance and support” among the Austrian population, Raab explained, referring to the displaced persons from Ukraine. At the same time, she acknowledged that providing private accommodation “may have an expiration date”. Therefore, they rely more on public spaces.

High qualifications and a desire for integration make us “optimistic”
According to the Minister for Integration, about 80,000 displaced persons from Ukraine are currently registered in Austria. According to them, about 30 percent have specifically expressed a wish to return to their home country in the coming weeks. The high level of education and the “great desire” of the displaced to integrate make Raab “optimistic”.

Five months after the start of Russia’s war of aggression in Ukraine, 25 European ministers responsible for integration, secretaries of state and senior officials met in Vienna on Thursday at Raab’s invitation to discuss integration. Among them were German Minister of State Reem Alabali-Radovan and Greek Minister Sofia Voultepsi. The conference also took place “against the backdrop of a sharply increasing number of asylum seekers from other regions”, according to the Ministry of Integration.

War Requires “New Approaches, New Measures”
Raab highlighted, among other things, the service points, the correspondence between family and work and the integration of children in schools as Austrian ‘best practice’ examples. “There is war in Europe, new approaches and new measures are needed,” Raab said.

Source: Krone

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