Austria set to toughen refugee laws

The Austrian parliament is set to introduce some of Europe's toughest asylum laws as the political leadership in the country is becoming increasingly irked by the surge of far-right parties.

Among the new measures which were to be adopted by members of the legislature on Wednesday was a bill to allow the government to declare a “state of emergency” over the refugee crisis and reject most asylum-seekers directly at the border.

The legislation has met fierce criticism by rights groups, religious leaders and opposition parties as the preventive measure also covers refugees from war-torn countries like Syria. Campaigners said the measures would be a clear violation of international human rights conventions.

Officials in the government defended the bill, saying Austria has had enough flexibility for the refugees.

“We cannot shoulder the whole world's burden,” said Interior Minister Wolfgang Sobotka, who added that Austria had no other choice as long as “so many other European Union members fail to do their part” to limit the influx of refugees.

More than 1.1 million refugees arrived in Europe last year, triggering the worst crisis for the continent in decades. Some 90,000 people submitted asylum applications to Austria in 2015, the second-highest in the European Union on a per capita basis.

The European Union reached a deal with Turkey earlier this year to stem the flow of refugees, who mostly escape war and poverty in the Middle East and North Africa. Based on the agreement, which has sparked global condemnation over the violation of the rights of refugees, Turkey has been taking back since March 20 anyone arriving illegally at the shores of Greece back to its soil in return for financial privileges from the EU.

Ankara could also enjoy an accelerated processing of its bid to join the 28-nation European Union.

Based on Austria's proposed legislation, authorities would only accept cases of refugees facing safety threats in a neighboring transit country or requests by those whose relatives are already in Austria.

“These are extremely dangerous tools that are being sharpened here especially if they fall into the wrong hands,” Mathias Strolz, the leader of the small NEOS opposition party, warned ahead of the vote in parliament.

The proposed legislation in Austria comes shortly after the candidate of the far-right Freedom Party (FPOe), Norbert Hofer, won the first round of a presidential ballot on April 24, sending shock waves through the political establishment in the country. Two main candidates of Austria’s ruling coalition failed to even make it into the runoff on May 22. Observers say the FPOe could also do well in the next scheduled general election in 2018 as it has consistently scored more than 30 percent in polls.

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