Migration: Austria tightens conditions for social benefits



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foreign countries Vice-Chancellor Austrian

For asylum seekers, "German is the key to minimum income"

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Council of Ministers meeting in Vienna Council of Ministers meeting in Vienna

Chancellor Kurz and his deputy Strache hope that the number of unemployed in Austria will decrease after the reorganization of social benefits

Source: dpa / Roland Schlager

Only asylum seekers who have sufficient knowledge of German and who have taken valuable courses should in the future benefit from full protection of the minimum income in Austria. . The right-wing Conservative government therefore combines hope.

reThe fight against "immigration into social systems" is one of the favorite projects of the right-wing conservative government in Vienna. Austria is now tightening the conditions for granting state welfare benefits in the perspective of immigration.

Asylum seekers should in the future only touch the total minimum income of 863 euros per month if they have sufficient command of German and have demonstrated their willingness to integrate in. following valuable courses, said Wednesday Chancellor Sebastian Kurz (ÖVP) and Vice Chancellor Heinz-Christian Strache (FPÖ) in Vienna. "German is the key to minimum income," said Strache.

The number of beneficiaries of this benefit – about 308,000 in total recently – has risen sharply since 2012, with half of the beneficiaries being foreigners, Kurz said. The benefits granted to recognized refugees who do not meet the conditions rise by 300 euros.

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The refugee agency, UNHCR, has severely criticized the project. Refugees threatened to slip far below the poverty line. "This is a very bad condition for their integration," said Christoph Pinter, head of UNHCR in Austria, according to this announcement.

As the German courses were provided only after a positive asylum decision, the detour by the required language skills implied a hidden waiting period for the refugees. "The proposed regime would therefore not be consistent with the Geneva Convention on Refugees, which provides for the equal treatment of refugees with Austrians," said the refugee agency.

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According to the concept of government, which is to come into effect in April 2019, people with disabilities, single parents and dependents can expect an increase.

As a general rule, the ÖVP and the FPÖ claim to increase the employment incentive of all beneficiaries of a minimum income protection. August Wöginger, head of the ÖVP fraction, calculated that a family of six in Vienna could expect the government to pay him a net profit of 2,227 € a month, to which are added family allowances (family allowances).

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That was a lot more than a lot of workers earned, Kurz said. Thanks to a new graduation, this family would now reach 1640 euros net plus family allowances. Unemployment will continue to fall thanks to this measure, said the Austrian Prime Minister.

The reorganization of social benefits at the national level is one of the central projects of the right-wing conservative government in Vienna. She has repeatedly made her reflections on this, but they have also had to adapt under the impression of court rulings. Until now, the design of the minimum income was led by the nine federal states.

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