Austria to greatly restrict asylum process

The Austrian government is aiming to considerably curtail refugee access to the asylum process from middle May, officials said on Wednesday.

In comments to journalists, Minister of the Interior Johanna Mikl-Leitner and Defence Minister Hans Peter Doskozil presented recent legal opinion supporting an upper limit on the intake of asylum seekers, which would form the basis for stricter asylum controls.

They said the influx of asylum seekers that began in 2015 has posed a threat to Austria's public order and internal security.

The Austrian government can now severely restrict access to asylum seeking procedure, and only process those asylum applications that are necessary in accordance with the European Convention on Human Rights, in particular as pertains to Article 8, according to the ministers.

This should be implemented into the national asylum law and come into practice from the middle of May, they said.

Whether or not the criteria for the asylum process are met should also be determined via fast track procedures at registration zones at the borders, for which border controls are to be intensified, according to the officials.

In instances where these criteria are not met, persons will be sent back to the country from which they attempted to cross into Austria, it was stated.