UN chief Ban Ki-moon has criticized the "increasingly restrictive"
refugee policies imposed by EU nations. On Wednesday, politicians in
Austria further tightened asylum restrictions.
Though he didn't name names, Ban Ki-moon pulled no punches when addressing Austria's parliament a day after
lawmakers restricted asylum rights
with a 98-67 vote. The law allows the country to reject asylum
applications from people fleeing conflicts such as Syria's civil war,
which has displaced more than 4 million people in five years.
"Such policies negatively affect the obligation of member states under
international humanitarian law and European law," the UN
secretary-general said Thursday.
Austria
straddles the EU's main south-to-north land routes for refugees and
received around 90,000 asylum requests in 2015 - the second-highest
number in the bloc on a per capita basis. Opposition parties and rights
groups slammed Austria's legislation, with the UN's refugee agency
warning that it "removes a centerpiece of refugee protection."
Austria has temporarily reimposed certain borders
'Growing xenophobia'
Austrian officials may now impose a six-month "state of emergency"
should the number of refugees arriving increase or threaten "national
security." Officials could renew their state of emergency thrice more
for six months at a time. Once triggered, the state of emergency would
only permit refugees whose relatives have already arrived in Austria and
those facing danger in a neighboring country such as Hungary to cross
the border.
The new law also called for "limited asylum," which would prevent
refugees from settling in Austria by preemptively designating the amount
of time they could stay. The legislation also makes it more difficult
for refugees to reunite with their families in Austria. The new
regulations exempt a select few people, such as minors and pregnant
women.
Interior Minister Wolfgang Sobotka insisted that Austria had no other
choice as long as "so many other European Union members fail to do their
part" to keep refugees from the country's borders. However, that
argument did not appear convincing to Ban and others.
"We have a moral and political obligation to help those who are fleeing
wars, human rights violations and persecution," Ban told Austria's
legislature. He added that he had grown "alarmed about growing
xenophobia" in Austria,
neighboring Germany and across the European Union.
About 1 million people - primarily from Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan -
landed in Europe last year, the largest number of displaced people on
the continent since World War II. EU countries have even gone so far as
to strike a
controversial deportations deal with Turkey
that allows the bloc to ship refugees whose asylum applications are
rejected to the country in a one-to-one swap for preapproved Syrians.
Although the pact has led to a sharp drop in arrivals in the month since
it went into effect, last week the International Organization for
Migration warned that the numbers had started to rise again.
mkg/kms (AFP, dpa, AP)
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