Off the wire
• Urgent: U.S. dollar falls amid mixed data  • Belarus verifies four candidates eligible for presidential election in October  • Portugal calls on Guinean political actors to reach compromise amid crisis  • 22 judges in Ghana suspended over alleged corrupt conduct  • U.S. federal agency finalizes rules to prevent foodborne illness  • Urgent: Obama orders preparation for accepting 10,000 Syrian refugees in next fiscal year  • 1st LD Writethru: Gold rebounds from one month low  • Urgent: Oil prices rebound despite rising inventories  • Foreign exchange rate of Euro to other currencies  • Stoltenberg recognizes Slovakia's part in collective security  
You are here: 　 Home

Austria expects to begin transfer of asylum seekers to Slovakia shortly

Xinhua, September 11, 2015 Adjust font size:

The Austrian government is expecting to begin transferring asylum seekers to the Slovakian town of Gabcikovo shortly, as part of an arrangement to reduce the burden on the main Austrian asylum accommodation centre in Traiskirchen.

The Austria Press Agency quoted Interior Ministry spokesperson Karl-Heinz Grundboeck as saying that the government expects the transfer "will be possible in the next few days."

As part of the arrangement, the asylum applications are still to be processed within Austria, and successful applicants granted asylum within Austria, bring with it the right to live there.

The Interior Ministry has reportedly been briefing asylum seekers on the alternate living quarters for two weeks, including via leaflets with photos and available in Arabic, though it is currently uncertain how many have volunteered to move.

The earlier arrangement with Slovakia had however entailed a total figure of 500 asylum seekers to live in the former dormitories of a university in the town, with 250 initially having been arranged to move in August, and the remainder in September.

Grundboeck said talks with the asylum seekers on the alternate living arrangement will continue, and added they are not expected to make a decision on short notice. Endit