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Austrian FM urges countries to accept rejected asylum seekers back

Xinhua, February 5, 2016 Adjust font size:

Asylum seekers' countries of origin could receive greater pressure to take back their repatriated nationals, Austrian Foreign Minister Sebastian Kurz said on Thursday.

In an interview with the Oe1 Morgenjournal radio program from state broadcaster ORF, Kurz said measures could include cutting EU aid given to these countries if they don't accept rejected asylum seekers back.

"We, as Europe, need to finally build up pressure if we want repatriations to properly function," he said.

Kurz specifically pointed out countries such as Tunisia, Pakistan, and Morocco, to which hundreds of millions of euros in aid were given each year, and yet still refused to accept back rejected asylum seekers.

He said the upcoming European Council meeting on Feb. 18 and 19 would provide a good platform to discuss the idea of using aid money as a means of applying pressure in these instances. Endit