A look at the current figures reveals the sharp increase in asylum applications filed in Austria since the beginning of the year. More than 56,000 applications were already recorded in the first eight months of the year. Compared to the same period last year, this means an increase of 195 percent.
Some things have also changed in the countries of origin, especially in the last two months. In both July and August, India was the dominant country of origin for applicants, instead of Syria and Afghanistan. The majority of asylum seekers come via Serbia, where Indians are specifically recruited due to the labor shortage. Many then move on, are picked up in Austria and submit an application.
problem with return
However, they have practically no chance of asylum, their cases are dealt with in their own fast-track procedures, which are completed in an average of 25 days. In the first eight months of the year, 11,451 such fast-track procedures were concluded negatively – triple the figure for the whole of the previous year.
The problem: Austria is currently practically unable to return rejected asylum seekers from India to their country of origin. The Interior Ministry is working feverishly on corresponding agreements, but such an agreement would probably have to come regarding at EU level. So far this has not been successful. The number of applicants from Pakistan and North Africa is also increasing, and they too have little prospect of a right to stay.
At present, however, only a relatively small proportion of applicants with little chance of staying are in basic care. There are currently 90,000 recipients, around 60,000 of whom are refugees from Ukraine. The majority of those with little chance move on before their application has been decided.
