Despite civil war

Almost all parties in favor of Afghanistan deportations

Almost all parties running in the National Council elections on Sunday support deportations to the civil war countries of Syria and Afghanistan. (archive picture)

(Bild: Michael Kappeler/dpa)

Almost all of the leading candidates in the National Council elections support deportations to the civil war countries of Syria and Afghanistan. Only Tobias Schweiger (KPÖ) and Fayad Mulla (KEINE) have now expressed their opposition in a questionnaire.

"Deportations to countries where there is war or a theocratic dictatorship should not even be considered," said Schweiger, for example. FPÖ leader Herbert Kickl, on the other hand, described deportations to Syria and Afghanistan as "long overdue". Karl Nehammer (ÖVP), Beate Meinl-Reisinger (NEOS) and Madeleine Petrovic (LMP) joined the Yes vote. However, the NEOS leader and Petrovic pointed out that there must be "repatriation agreements that comply with human rights".

Kogler: "Only in individual cases"
Werner Kogler (Greens) and Andreas Babler (SPÖ) can imagine deportations for Afghan and Syrian offenders. "For us Greens, one thing is clear: anyone who commits serious crimes has forfeited any right to protection, must be punished with the full force of the law and then deported," explained Kogler. However, this is "only possible in individual cases" in Syria and Afghanistan. Babler described the human rights situation as "problematic" and rejects negotiations with the Taliban.

Applications to embassies?
Another question posed by the APA news agency was whether the EU needed "legal migration routes". While Petrovic and Mulla spoke out in favor of applications at Austrian embassies, Babler and Kogler argued for the creation of legal escape routes. "Yes, there must be no irregular migration to Austria," Meinl-Reisinger also said. Like Nehammer, Kickl and Kogler, she is in favor of labor migration. "Where necessary, qualified immigration into the Austrian labor market should be possible," said Kickl.

There were no answers from Beer Party top candidate Dominik Wlazny. The foreign policy questionnaire was sent to the parties running nationwide on September 9.