Refugee Crisis

Austrian govt calls for ‘restrictive asylum policy’ amid growing foreign crime rate
The number of crimes committed by “foreigners” in Austria increased to 40 percent of the total in 2016, a new government report says. Interior Minister Herbert Kickl says a “strict asylum policy” is needed to tackle the issue. [...]
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Austria’s New Government: Kurz ‘Was Forced to Make Too Many Concessions’
While the German SPD and CSU parties are struggling to form a new grand coalition during tough negotiations, Austria has already successfully formed its new government despite the fact that Vienna held its parliamentary election three weeks after Berlin. [...]
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Austrian defense minister eyes ‘protective zones’ to rid EU of illegal migrants
Austria has proposed tough new anti-migrant measures, with its Defense Minister calling for a pan-European cap on migration, external application centers for refugees and “protective zones” to hold and deport illegals from the EU. [...]
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Austria ready to send troops to other European countries to keep migrants out
The government in Vienna is working on amendments to Austrian laws that would allow troops to be sent to other European countries to help them "protect their borders" from illegal migrants and refugees, the Austrian defense minister has said. [...]
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‘US interventions a reason for migrant crisis, US should share burden’ – Austrian Chancellor
The US shares responsibility for the ongoing migrant crisis, according to Austrian Chancellor Christian Kern. Speaking on the sidelines of an EU summit in Malta, he stated that American “interventions” are in part to blame for the refugee flows. [...]
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40% of refugees in Austria put religion above law – study
A new study from the Austrian Academy of Sciences shows that 40 percent of refugees in Austria believe religious commandments take precedence over the nation’s laws, prompting the country’s foreign minister to push for a rigorous new integration package. [...]
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8 people detained in Vienna & Graz in ISIS-linked raids in Austria
Austrian police have arrested eight people in anti-terrorist raids conducted in Vienna and Graz, the country’s APA news agency reports. According to the local Kronen Zeitung newspaper, all of those detained were from the former Yugoslavia. [...]
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Blow to Schengen as Austria Refuses to Re-Open German Border
Austria remains in favor of border controls and an upper limit on refugees, Interior Minister Wolfgang Subotka told German newspaper Die Welt. Having imposed controls at its border with Germany in September 2015 at the height of Europe's migrant crisis, Austria wants to continue with them indefinitely, Interior Minister Wolfgang Subotka told German newspaper Die Welt on Friday. [...]
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Austrian Women Report Wave of NYE Sex Attacks
Women in several cities have reported sex attacks committed during New Year's Eve celebrations, the Austrian press reports. The number female victims of sex attacks in the Austrian city of Innsbruck has risen to 19 after the parents of several teeenage girls reported the crimes to police, Austrian media reported on Tuesday. [...]
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Coincidence? German Stats Show Surge in Sex Crime Rate Around Refugee Centers
A group of German activists have carried out a study which found that rates of sexual offenses increase significantly in the vicinity of asylum reception centers, Germany's Journalistenwatch news portal reported. [...]
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Austrian far-right politician shows migrants ‘how to interact with our women’ (VIDEO)
A provocative video in which an Austrian far-right politician explains to asylum seekers, using a blonde mannequin and posters in Arabic, that European women generally don’t like being groped in public by strangers has stirred controversy. The video has sparked a lot of negative comments and a series of video responses, forcing Freedom Party politician Armin Sippel to take the video down due [...]
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‘Unthinkable’: Austria’s interior minister rejects proposal to grant work permits to asylum seekers
Austria’s interior minister has rejected a proposal that would require EU member states to grant asylum seekers the right to work, calling the plan “unthinkable,” as the country’s job market could not absorb the flood of new workers. [...]
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Austria and Hungary at Loggerheads Over EU Migrant Rules
The Austrian and Hungarian Governments are in a diplomatic row over thousands of migrants in Austria that Vienna says should be returned to Hungary under EU rules, which the Budapest administration is refusing to accept. Under the Dublin agreement, migrants arriving within the Schengen area — the zone in Europe where all countries remove internal borders — must be processed in the country o [...]
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Turkey will send migrants back to EU if visa-free deal fails – Erdogan party’s MP
Ankara will send migrants back to the EU if the European Parliament won’t grant visa-free travel to Turkish citizens, warned Burhan Kuzu, a high-ranking deputy for Turkey’s ruling AKP party and former adviser to President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.   [...]
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‘If Merkel wants refugee labor, let them fly to Germany on Lufthansa!’
Europe wants a restrictive policy on refugees because small countries like Austria cannot handle unlimited number of arrivals, Laszlo Maracz, assistant professor of European studies at the University of Amsterdam, told RT. Tensions are rising at the Brenner Pass between Austria and Italy. [...]
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Welcome to Fortified Europe: the Militarization of Europe’s Borders
It’s late in the afternoon and we are stuck behind a school bus in Northern Croatia as we drive through the what the GPS says is the miserable little town of Apatija, which my Croatian friend Juraj says literally translates to “apathy” in Croatian.   [...]
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Put up or pay up: EC wants to fine EU members €250,000 per refused refugee
EU member states could soon be charged hundreds of millions of euros for denying asylum to refugees if the European Commission has its way. The scheme is considered one of the most contentious parts of the revision to the so-called Dublin asylum regulation, which allows northern EU countries to deport refugees to their port of first entry. [...]
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64% of French say refugees are ‘a major source of crime’ – poll
At least 64 percent of French people believe that asylum seekers arriving in increasing numbers from North Africa and the Middle East are a “major source of crime,” a recent poll shows. The survey was conducted by international polling and market research company Ifop for the Russian Sputnik news agency. [...]
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Austria: State of Emergency & Migration Crisis
The Austrian government is about to enforce a tougher asylum law. According to it, the government will be entitled to declare a state of emergency. If this happens, no refugee would be able to apply for asylum in Austria any longer. The opposition and other critics speak of a “de facto abolition of the right to asylum”. [...]
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