10,000 applications

Doskozil unpacks the asylum cap again

Austria has 1250 asylum applications per 100,000 inhabitants(Bild: P. Huber)

Only very few people will remember it, but now Burgenland Governor Hans Peter Doskozil is unpacking it again: the asylum cap.

Austria should impose an upper limit of 10,000 on the number of asylum applications for 2024, demands the red state governor.

He only wants to admit 330 people to basic care in his federal state; there are currently over 3,000 refugees in basic care. Instead, there should be targeted labor migration, said Doskozil.

Austria is the number one destination country in Europe 
He justified his demand with the fact that Austria is by far the number one country in Europe in terms of per capita asylum applications per 100,000 inhabitants, ahead of Germany and Italy.

Austria has 1250 asylum applications per 100,000 inhabitants.(Bild: P. Huber)

Faymann's idea
The idea of an asylum cap is not new. It was a major topic after the wave of refugees in 2015 and sealed the political end of the then SPÖ Federal Chancellor Werner Faymann.

In 2016, the red-black coalition agreed on an upper limit of 37,500 asylum seekers after 100,000 applications in 2015. Faymann's 180-degree turnaround at the time from a welcoming culture to an upper limit for asylum seekers was met with a roar of applause at the May Day march on Vienna's Rathausplatz. He resigned on May 9, 2016.

Hans Peter Doskozil only wants to admit 330 people to basic care in his federal state.(Bild: APA/Robert Jäger)

Doskozil is calling for further tightening today. In the event of a negative asylum decision, financial support should no longer be provided, except for the offer of support for return. Similar requests have also been made from Upper Austria.

Stelzer wants a payment card
Meanwhile, Governor Thomas Stelzer (ÖVP) wants a payment card instead of cash for asylum seekers based on the German model. In future, those entitled to benefits in 14 German federal states are to receive part of their social benefits as a credit on a card instead of a cash payment. This is intended to prevent money transfers to the home countries.

Stelzer has therefore instructed Wolfgang Hattmannsdorfer, the Upper Austrian state councillor responsible, to put this topic on the agenda of the next meeting of integration officers: "The German federal states are showing how it can be done across all parties and states. We should also follow this path. The principle of benefits in kind must prevail over cash benefits. We also owe this to the Austrian taxpayers who finance these basic services."