Declining trend – asylum applications: Turks are now the second largest group

The Ministry of the Interior reported 8,299 applications in September. This amounts to a decrease of 49 percent compared to the comparable month of 2022. If you take the first nine months of 2023 as a whole, there are 42 percent fewer applications than in the same period last year. However, the Ministry of the Interior emphasizes that the Austrian figures were contrary to the European trend.

By the end of September, more than 800,000 asylum applications had been received in the EU, an increase of 27.5 percent. Germany reported an increase of 74 percent, Italy 63 percent. Stronger controls in the border area, a determined fight against smugglers and faster procedures are responsible for the development in Austria.

Ukrainians in primary care
Syrians also established themselves as the strongest nation in September. But Turks and Moroccans are now arriving before the Afghans and seeking protection in Austria. At the beginning of October, the basic service cared for 37,570 asylum seekers, asylum seekers and those entitled to protection. The larger group consists of 42,451 war-displaced people from Ukraine.

In the first nine months, more than 23,900 people avoided the procedure in Austria. In most cases this means that they have traveled on to other countries that were actually their destination country. A total of 9,259 deportations took place at the end of September, of which 4,780 were voluntary and 4,479 were forced, as the department of Interior Minister Gerhard Karner explains.