Austrian interior minister sets upper limit for number of asylum seekers

Austrian Minister of the Interior Johanna Mikl-Leitner on Monday stated that in her view Austria will limit the number of asylum seekers accepted in 2016 to a fixed 37,500.

Debate has gone on between the two parties of the coalition government since its leaders first announced the figure last week, as to whether it represents a firm limit or is merely a guide number.

Speaking to the Oe1 Morgenjournal radio program ahead of a meeting of European Union(EU) interior ministers in Brussels concerning the refugee crisis, Mikl-Leitner said the intake of applications would have to be stopped at the given figure of 37,500, as a continued stream of asylum seekers as had been seen in 2015 could not be supported by the system, and would lead to an overload.

She said there are two possible outcomes for asylum seekers that arrive after the limit has been reached. Firstly, that they are already turned away at the borders and return to the safe neighbouring states through which they traveled to reach Austria, or to accept their asylum applications, but to not process them for a number of years.

"That means also no family reunion for years," she added.

She acknowledged that Austria's decision to set an upper limit could have a domino effect within the EU, and said in order to adequately care for and integrate asylum seekers, these limits, even in other member states, are needed.

Mikl-Leitner also criticized the fact that asylum seekers arriving in Austria are currently often traveling through several safe countries, which in her view is not about seeking protection, but "selection of the most economically attractive countries," which she also referred to as "asylum optimization," that should not be happening. Enditem