As of: February 29, 2024, 5:57 p.m
By: Kilian Beck
Comments
Press
Split
ÖVP Interior Minister Karner will probably cancel the plans for compulsory work for asylum seekers.
The alternative is community service.
Two countries want to act themselves.
Vienna – Austria has been arguing about compulsory work for people in the asylum system since 2023.
The impetus came from the Interior Ministry led by ÖVP politician Gerhard Karner.
In a draft regulation from Karner's house, a corresponding passage has now disappeared, the daily newspaper
Der Standard
reported on Thursday (February 29).
Instead, the aim was to “significantly” expand the possibilities of allowing asylum seekers to work in a non-profit capacity “with their consent”.
The reason could have been legal concerns.
However, two federal states want to go further and introduce a requirement in the medium term at the latest.
Compulsory work for asylum seekers?
Debates in Austria and Germany are similar
The debate about compulsory work for asylum seekers was similar to that in Germany.
The FPÖ around its party leader Herbert Kickl drummed loudly against immigration.
In the summer, the right-wing conservative ÖVP reacted at the federal and state levels and supported work obligations.
Where they have government responsibility, the Greens were quite unenthusiastic.
The Austrian Interior Minister Gerhard Karner (ÖVP) wanted to tighten asylum policy and require asylum seekers to do community service.
© Bernd von Jutrczenka/dpa
Some of the states governed by the opposition Social Democrats in the federal government blocked themselves.
The Vienna City Councilor for Social Affairs Peter Hacker (SPÖ) even described the move in the
Kurier
as “forced labor” and publicly informed the legal department of the Ministry of the Interior that it was illegal.
Compulsory work or not?
The SPÖ and ÖVP as well as the federal and state governments are at odds
Ultimately, according to the newspaper, Social Democrats and conservative country representatives agreed on a compromise in September.
The result was the option for asylum seekers to do community service on a voluntary basis.
An obligation would, as the Innsbruck international lawyer Ralph Janik told the
Puls24
broadcaster , be a violation of the European Convention on Human Rights.
In December, after the State Heads' Conference, the counterpart to the Prime Minister's Conference, the plan was again to have work compulsory with sanctions.
At that time, the radio station
Ö1
reported that Interior Minister Karner had allowed the states to impose work obligations - the Interior Ministry should therefore check how this could be done in a legally secure manner.
No work requirement for asylum seekers in Austria - instead voluntary community work
Now, in February, the Interior Ministry seems to have finally come to the conclusion that it does not want to impose any obligation.
Instead, there should now be two options for voluntary work for asylum seekers: relief work with municipalities and their subordinate bodies as well as with “social or charitable” non-governmental organizations, wrote the
Standard
.
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Little is known about possible wages in such arrangements.
During the debate at the end of 2023, a subscription limit of 110 euros was occasionally mentioned,
Puls24
reported .
In Germany, asylum seekers who are forced to work only earn at least 80 cents per hour.
In Austria, as in Germany, asylum seekers are usually not allowed to have regular employment for months.
Compulsory work for asylum seekers should still come: Vorarlberg and Upper Austria want to introduce a rule
Two federal states announced further measures to the newspaper.
The ÖVP, which governs Vorarlberg with the Greens, renewed the idea of requiring arriving asylum seekers to work using the “Vorarlberg Code”.
In Upper Austria, where the right-wing authoritarian FPÖ co-governs, compulsory work is supposedly to be introduced “gradually”.
But that could be formally illegal, warned lawyer Lukas Gahleitner, spokesman for the NGO Asylum Coordination, in the
Standard
.
“Such a regulation is federal law.
Regulations of the countries that contradict it would be illegal,” he emphasized.
(KiBec)