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The fall of Afghanistan
Austria closes gates, Greece builds wall: Europe fears refugee crisis from Afghanistan
The two countries, which were at the center of the immigration crisis in 2015, are preparing for a wave of refugees after the Taliban victory.
"It will not happen as long as I am chancellor," said Kurtz, who already has about 40,000 Afghans living in his country.
Erdogan to Greek Prime Minister: "A serious challenge for all of us." Putin opposes their absorption in Central Asia: "Armed men will disguise themselves as refugees"
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Greece
Austria
Afghanistan
Sebastian Kurz
News agencies
Sunday, 22 August 2021, 14:52
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40 km long surveillance. The wall on the Greek-Turkish border (Photo: Reuters)
Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz opposes the absorption of more refugees from Afghanistan, while Greece has set up a new fence on the border with Turkey due to fears of another wave from the country that fell to Taliban control a week ago.
While the EU is struggling to formulate a uniform policy towards the Afghans who have assisted foreign forces for the past 20 years, the conservative chancellor has made it clear that their arrival in Austria is not an option.
During the refugee crisis that hit the continent in 2015, Austria absorbed asylum seekers at a rate of more than 1% of its population.
Kurtz, who built his career based on his opposition to immigration, has been in power since 2017.
"I strongly oppose voluntarily taking on more people, and that will not happen as long as I am Chancellor," Kurtz said in an interview with Channel 24, excerpts of which were broadcast this morning (Sunday) before being broadcast later tonight.
According to the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, more than 40,000 Afghan refugees are staying in Austria, the second highest number in Europe after Germany, where about 148,000 live. The number of citizens in Austria is nine times smaller than in neighboring Germany.
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Austria is a neutral country, and it is not a member of NATO. It sent only 16 troops to Afghanistan, who participated in the effort to train the Afghan security forces - which collapsed quickly against the Taliban.
"Austria made a disproportionately large contribution," Kurtz added. He said the refugees from Afghanistan should stay in neighboring countries, noting that two of them - Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan - received only 14 and 13 refugees respectively, figures that match UNHCR data.
In addition to Austria, another European country that is very much afraid of a new refugee crisis is Greece. It has in recent days completed the construction of a fence and surveillance measures along 40 km from its border with Turkey.
"We can not passively wait for the possible consequences," Greek Civil Protection Minister Michaelis Chrysochoidis said during a visit to the Abruzzo region on Friday.
"Our borders will remain impassable."
The minister said the fall of Afghanistan had created "new opportunities for migrant flows" to Europe.
Europe does not succeed in formulating a uniform strategy.
Migrants from Afghanistan at Madrid airport, Friday (Photo: Reuters)
Greece, which was at the forefront of the previous immigration crisis, has made it clear that it may send back all Afghan refugees who arrive in its territory illegally. Most of the immigrants who passed through Greek territory during the 2015 migrant crisis continued north, to richer countries on the continent, but about 60,000 of them remained in the country.
Turkey, which itself is building a border wall to stem the wave of immigration from Afghanistan, has called on European countries to accept responsibility for Afghan refugees. President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said in a phone call with the Greek prime minister that increasing the flow of immigration from Afghanistan could pose a "serious challenge for everyone". "A new wave of immigration is inevitable if the necessary steps are not taken in Afghanistan and Iran," Erdogan stressed.
Last year, Athens temporarily halted the filing of new asylum applications, after Erdogan announced that Turkey had "opened its gates" to migrants wanting to come to Europe.
The Greek prime minister said at the time that his country had increased the "level of deterrence at our borders to the maximum" as security forces were deployed along the mainland border with Turkey.
Russia is also keeping a close eye on developments in Afghanistan, and President Vladimir Putin said today that the crisis in the country is directly affecting his country's security.
He attacked the proposal made by several Western countries to send Afghan refugees to neighboring Central Asian countries, while their asylum applications are being examined in the United States and Europe.
Putin, quoted by the RIA news agency, added that Moscow did not want to see gunmen from Afghanistan arrive under the guise of refugees.
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