CATFISH. One in three people who live in Wels was born abroad. Great efforts are being made in kindergartens, schools and on the labor market to ensure that integration can be successful. As reported, the city of 65,000 is working increasingly with the Austrian Integration Fund. Today, in black and blue unity, Social and Integration Councilor Wolfgang Hattmannsdorfer (ÖVP) and Mayor Andreas Rabl (FPÖ) presented a 500,000 euro package for integration and German courses in order to get people into the job market more quickly. The state is doubling the funds for this.
Demand integration
“The state of Upper Austria is focusing on cities that, like Wels, are severely affected,” says Hattmannsdorfer. He emphasizes once once more that integration must be actively promoted. “In Upper Austria, German is compulsory in social assistance, and social assistance recipients who are able to work and do not actively seek work and do not learn German are penalized.” The benefit can be reduced by up to 50 percent. He and Rabl are now calling for the nationwide introduction of compulsory German in social welfare.
The number of social assistance recipients fell in Upper Austria last year (minus 13 percent), while the number of those able to work in Wels fell by eight percent to 274. 72 were sanctioned for violating the obligation to make an effort or speak German, and their benefits were reduced.
In the FP-governed city, the proportion of foreigners has continued to increase over the past eight years, also due to labor migration. “The Croats are particularly well integrated, but there are some groups that we don’t reach,” says Rabl. The Chechens in particular are a closed community; there are also clusters of Syrians and Afghans. “However, a general judgment is not permissible; of course it also depends on social background and level of education.”
Regarding the lack of mixing of children with and without migration in many classes, Rabl says: “We need a break in immigration, you can see in Vienna how family reunification is exacerbating the situation, the federal government has to think regarding something here.” Hattmannsdorfer criticizes the high social benefits with a corresponding pull in the federal capital, which is two and a half times as high as in Upper Austria. He rejects the distribution of people from Vienna to other federal states.
Immigration in Wels
Proportion of foreigners: In Wels this is almost 32 percent; the largest migrant group are Croats (3,180 people), Bosnians (2,580 people) and Romanians (1,950 people). 48 percent are EU citizens and 52 percent are third-country nationals.
Two thirds of Wels residents born abroad are employed.
The unemployment rate for people born in Austria in Wels is 9.1 percent and that of those born abroad is 15.1 percent. People from refugee countries such as Syria (27.4 percent) or the Russian Federation (Chechens: 28.4 percent) are particularly affected by unemployment.
The proportion of foreign citizens in social assistance in Wels is 48 percent and is in line with the Upper Austria average. Last year, 72 social assistance recipients in Wels had their benefits reduced due to violation of the obligation to make an effort and speak German.
Author
Michaela Krenn-Aichinger
Local editor Wels
Michaela Krenn-Aichinger
