Austria launches info campaign to inform Afghans of stricter asylum rules

The Austrian Ministry of the Interior Tuesday announced it will begin an "information campaign" in Afghanistan to inform people of the difficulties of obtaining asylum in Austria.

The campaign will involve advertisements on the Internet, television, newspapers, billboards, and buses in Afghanistan, including slogans warning that Austria's asylum laws have toughened.

The reason behind the move is due to the very high numbers of Afghan asylum seekers in Austria, the roughly 25,500 applications submitted by them in 2015 making them the largest group.

At the presentation of the campaign on Tuesday afternoon, Minister of the Interior Johanna Mikl-Leitner said Afghans have "many internal options to flee" in their own country. This combined with Austria's implementation of the toughest asylum laws in Europe means informing Afghans through the campaign is a "matter of fairness," particularly in light of misinformation often given by people smugglers.

The estimated 10,000-euro (10,860 U.S. dollars) cost of the campaign is also considered reasonable by the ministry, and comes due to comparatively lower costs in Afghanistan.

The measures are also to be expanded to other common source countries of asylum seekers in the coming weeks, such as Maghreb region nations Morocco, Tunisia, and Algeria. Endit