Austria's new government announced today that it intends to end the reunification of refugee families, in order to "protect" the country from the influx of refugees in recent years, becoming the first European country to take such a step.
The regulation will be passed by May, and in just a few weeks, that decision will become a reality, said Austrian Integration Minister Claudia Plakolm at a ministerial meeting in Vienna.
"We have reached the limits of our reception capacity," the minister said as the government expressed its desire to protect the health, employment and education systems.
The minister assessed that "the probability of successful integration decreases with each new arrival" because many refugees need to learn German, find a job and find a place in schools.
The measure, which will initially be in force for six months, may be extended until May 2027. It comes in the context of tougher migration policies in several EU member states, and against the backdrop of the rise of the far right.
In Austria, the nationalist FPO party won a historic victory in parliamentary elections in late September. Although it failed to form a coalition government, it remains the country's leading party, according to polls.
Conservative Chancellor Christian Stocker, in power since early March with the Social Democrats and Liberals, is under pressure to maintain his hard line.
Austria, which saw an influx of refugees during the 2015 migrant crisis, says it has seen a "major increase" in the number of arrivals of family members of those who have been granted asylum or are entitled to protection because their country of origin is considered dangerous.
The country of 9,2 million people has taken in around 2023 refugees in 9.300, up from 7.800 last year. The vast majority come from Syria.
Several human rights groups criticized the government's decision, saying that an emergency refugee situation in Austria needs to be proven to stop family reunification, adding that this is not the case in the country.
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