The Austrian Interior Ministry is encouraging refugees from Syria to return to their homeland. A program with financial bonuses will be introduced from July to September, Interior Minister Gerhard Karner announced at a press conference, quoted by the national news agency APA, BTA reported.
After the change of power in Damascus about a year and a half ago, around 3,000 Syrians have left Austria - some of them voluntarily, others forcibly.
Karner stressed that for financial reasons, voluntary return is preferable, this is the goal of the three-month campaign. According to him, this is important both for Syria itself in connection with the reconstruction of the country, and for Austria - to relieve the social systems.
A distinction will be made between two groups. In the event of voluntary departure, people who are still in the asylum procedure or are in the basic support system and have subsidiary protection status will be provided with 3,000 euros. Persons with a recognized right to asylum will receive 1,500 euros instead of the previous 1,000 euros.
Karner did not want to make a forecast of how many people will take advantage of the opportunity to return. An evaluation of the effectiveness of the program will be made after three months. The minister rejected the possibility of increasing the amounts if the result is not as successful as expected.
The head of the group responsible for this action, Elisabeth Wenger-Donig, assured that information campaigns will also be organized. There will be detailed information leaflets. In addition, people who meet the conditions will be actively notified by email.
According to Karner, since the fall of the Bashar al-Assad regime, around 13,000 procedures for Syrians have been reopened and reviewed. In the case of 4,400 people, the protection status has been reduced or completely revoked.
Meanwhile, the number of procedures at the EU's external borders, agreed within the framework of the European Asylum Pact, which for Austria is Vienna Airport, is still relatively small. Four people are currently being detained at the border terminal at Vienna Airport, and accelerated procedures are being carried out in order to return people without grounds for asylum back to the country.
According to the data cited by Karner, around 7,000 people were deported from Austria in the first half of the year. Police Director Michael Takacs explained that 400 of these were "problem deportations", for which 250 specially trained police officers were available. "Problem deportations" are defined as cases involving aggressive individuals or those who do not cooperate with the authorities at all, as well as perpetrators of crimes.