Karner open to “Vorarlberg Code”, ministry examines

2023-11-07 16:25:00

Interior Minister Gerhard Karner (ÖVP) appeared open to the planned “Vorarlberg Code” and similar initiatives by the federal states on Tuesday. “Everything that brings those entitled to asylum into the labor market and not into the social system is worth supporting and helps.” The same applies: “I think anything that encourages asylum seekers to give something back is sensible and right,” Karner told the APA on the sidelines of the opening of a border management center on the Brenner Pass.

There have already been various initiatives on the subject of refugee agreements at the federal level. “This area has been continually refined,” says Karner. The refugee officers only made a similar decision at the end of September, said the Interior Minister when asked about specific plans at the federal level. The Interior Ministry is now looking at “what is possible here and legally.” It is “being coordinated and being worked out”. “However, we are very grateful that there are initiatives in this direction in the federal states,” said the Lower Austrian.

Tyrol’s state governor Anton Mattle (ÖVP), who had already shown himself open to the proposal from Vorarlberg the day before, recalled an “onboarding point” that Tyrol had set up in September. “We want to support people who have a chance of receiving a positive asylum decision on their way into the job market,” Mattle told the APA. However, in contrast to the Vorarlberg proposal, this is a “voluntary measure”. We will “look at things very closely”.

In September, refugee representatives spoke out at a conference in Carinthia in favor of requiring asylum seekers to do community service. The federal states had agreed that the Ministry of the Interior should develop a model that would extend the current regulation – which provides for cooperation in the district or on behalf of states and municipalities – to non-profit organizations.

In Vorarlberg, in the future – if the ruling ÖVP party has its way – asylum seekers will have to sign the code that is currently being developed when they receive basic services. It is the only federal state to offer free German courses. In return, ÖVP club chairman Roland Breakfast emphasized last week that asylum seekers would undertake to do charitable work in communities or associations. He was convinced that volunteer work in particular enables contacts and helps to break down walls.

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