Austria to stop refugee family reunification in EU first: govt
Austria announced on Wednesday that it would pause family reunifications for those with asylum status from May, becoming the first in the European Union to do so.
Several EU countries are mulling stopping or tightening the right for people, who cannot safely return to their home countries, to bring their families, but so far no bloc member has a complete halt in place.
Austria has already halted family reunification for Syrians since the ouster of Syria's leader Bashar al-Assad last December, arguing it has to reassess the situation and threatening their deportation.
Syrians make up the bulk of family reunifications, but a newly formed conservative-led government -- under pressure with anti-immigration sentiment high -- has insisted that it needs to stop all.
Integration Minister Claudia Plakolm said the government would make a legal change to allow the interior ministry to issue a decree to halt family reunification.
"By May, so in just a few weeks, the stop is expected to become reality," Plakolm of the conservative People's Party (OeVP) told reporters.
"On one hand, our systems have reached their limits and, on the other hand, the probability of successful integration decreases massively with each new arrival," she added.
The pause is for six months but can be extended until May 2027, she said, adding it was a "mammoth task" to integrate those who have arrived, many of whom struggle to learn German and find jobs.
In 2023, almost 9,300 people arrived due to family reunification; last year it was almost 7,800 people, according to government figures.
Most of them were school-aged minors, placing a burden on schools, the government said.
Rights organisations have criticised the government's plans in the country of nine million, with one of the main asylum support groups saying they would challenge the decree once issued in court.
"There must be an emergency (to allow the government to pause family reunification), which in Austria is not the case," Asylkoordination Oesterreich spokesman Lukas Gahleitner told AFP.
The anti-immigration far-right Freedom Party (FPOe) topped parliamentary elections for the first time ever last November, gaining almost a third of the votes.
It failed to form government, with the election runner-up long-ruling OeVP cobbling together a coalition with the Social Democrats (SPOe) and the liberal NEOs.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Daily Tribune
13 hours ago
- Daily Tribune
Feud with Trump Sparks Elon Musk's Bold Move — A New Political Party?
Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk has publicly floated the idea of launching a new political party in the United States, responding to growing dissatisfaction with the traditional two-party system and following a recent public feud with former President Donald Trump. On Thursday, Musk posted a poll on X (formerly Twitter), asking users whether America needed a new political party. The results, revealed on Friday, showed that 80% of respondents supported the idea. Reacting to the poll, Musk declared, 'The people have spoken. A new political party is needed in America to represent the 80% in the middle! And exactly 80% of people agree. This is fate.' He also announced the name of the prospective political movement: The America Party. Context of the Feud with Trump The announcement comes amid heightened tensions between Musk and Donald Trump. Musk, who had publicly backed Trump in the November 2024 presidential election, has recently criticized the former president's proposed 'Big Beautiful' spending bill, labeling it an 'abomination.' In retaliation, Trump expressed his disappointment with Musk during a meeting with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz and threatened to cancel all federal contracts awarded to Musk's companies, including Tesla and SpaceX. Musk responded provocatively, claiming Trump would not have won the election without his support and accusing Trump of 'ingratitude.' At one point, Musk threatened to decommission SpaceX's Falcon rockets in response to Trump's threats, though he later withdrew this statement. Musk also alleged that Trump's name appears in the so-called 'Epstein files,' implying a controversial reason behind the lack of public disclosure. Political Landscape and Challenges Ahead Musk's proposal to create The America Party aims to challenge the dominance of the Republican and Democratic parties, which have ruled U.S. politics for over a century. While the U.S. Constitution does not prohibit third parties, the last time a non-traditional party candidate won the presidency was in 1850, making the path forward highly challenging. Political analysts say Musk's immense public profile and influence could bring significant attention to the new party. However, building a viable political organization capable of winning elections requires grassroots support, strong leadership, and a clear platform—elements that remain to be seen. What's Next? Elon Musk's announcement has sparked intense debate across social media and political circles. Supporters argue that America needs fresh alternatives to represent moderate voters, while critics question whether a billionaire entrepreneur with no political experience can effectively reshape the country's political system. As the idea of The America Party takes shape, all eyes will be on Musk to see if he can turn this bold vision into a reality or if it remains a symbolic protest against the existing political status quo.
Gulf Insider
2 days ago
- Gulf Insider
Syrian Islamist Leader Sharaa Will Speak At UN
The Islamist group which rules Syria from Damascus, Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), has long been designated as a terrorist organization by the UN, US and UK. But once the hardline group toppled Assad, things changed rapidly. The group's leader and self-declared interim president Ahmed al-Sharaa (Abu Mohammed al-Jolani) until very recently had a $10 million bounty on his head. In May, President Trump met with Sharaa in Saudi Arabia, praising his 'very strong past' – after which US sanctions on Syria were dropped. That 'strong past' was terrorism plain and simple, including attacks on civilians and overseeing Sharia executions in AQ-held Idlib provice. A week before the Gulf meeting with Trump, Sharaa had suggested the idea of building a Trump Tower in Damascus. Since then, Sharaa has engaged with several US delegations, pushing for positive relations amid an effort to present a 'moderated' and 'reformed' leadership, despite that Jolani had even been part of ISIS early in the Syrian proxy war. This is why a headline which emerged Tuesday is absurd and shocking: the man who founded the Syrian al-Qaeda group Al-Nusra Front is coming to America. One international report says: Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa will visit New York in September to participate in the United Nations General Assembly, according to Sky News Arabic. Reports of Sharaa's intention to address the UN have emerged in Arabic-language media in recent weeks. This would mark the first time a Syrian president has addressed the UN since June 1967, when Nureddin al-Atassi did so after Israel's victory in the Six Day War. Earlier this week, the US endorsed Sharaa's controversial proposal to integrate thousands of foreign jihadists from his group, HTS, into the Syrian military. This is tantamount to Washington nodding in agreement with a plan to regularize global jihadists in the heart of the Middle East. However, Sharaa has certainly not been universally welcomed even in the region. In April, Iraq invited him to the Arab League summit in Baghdad, but his past as a senior member of al-Qaeda in Iraq (AQI) led to strong opposition, given AQI is responsible for thousands of brutal killings of Iraqi civilians. Sharaa chose not to attend the Arab League amid the pressure, and his reported upcoming visit to the UN in New York City could provoke similar resistance. The legal loop hole in all this is that despite his terrorism past, US law allows for sitting heads of state to attend UN headquarters in NY City. And this question is somewhat moot anyway, given that President Trump has already full embraced him, during last month's Riyadh visit.
Gulf Insider
2 days ago
- Gulf Insider
European Industry Under Siege: China Deploys Rare Earths As Economic Weapon
As U.S. tariffs tighten the screws on China's export machine, Beijing is striking back—with strategic precision. Export restrictions on rare earths are now Beijing's latest move to break down European trade barriers and push back against escalating pressure from Washington. In today's global trade standoff, the gloves are off. The U.S. is wielding its market clout—25% of global consumption originates from the American domestic market. Anyone in the export business must deal with the United States. China, meanwhile, holds an unchallenged monopoly on rare earths—and is making it clear it will not hesitate to weaponize that dominance. The stakes are rising, and national interests now override globalist courtesies. No Friends—Only Alliances Europe is learning the hard way: in geopolitics, there are no friends, only temporary alliances. China's tightened export controls on rare earth elements risk plunging Germany's industrial sector into a severe resource crisis. With nearly 85% of global rare earth refining under its control, Beijing is the chief supplier of key metals like dysprosium, terbium, and yttrium—critical for electric motors, medical tech, and defense systems. Since April 2025, access to these raw materials has been restricted to licensed exporters only—a de facto embargo. The fallout is immediate: several German manufacturers have already been forced to scale back operations. Others face complete shutdowns. Industrial metal prices continue climbing, and the fragility of global supply chains is now exposed in brutal detail. Europe's resource dependency is becoming a major liability—and a strategic weakness in the coming trade war negotiations. Target: New Markets China's export curbs are a calculated pressure tactic in its standoff with both the U.S. and EU. Beijing is feeling the squeeze from the Trump administration's hardline trade policy. If Washington fails to shrink its massive trade deficit and restore U.S. industrial capacity, Trump's economic agenda is toast. Beijing faces its own nightmare scenario. To appease U.S. demands and cut trade surpluses, it would need to let the yuan rise—risking domestic unrest. A more affluent middle class might start demanding political influence. That's a nightmare for China's authoritarian elite. At the same time, the economic foundation of Communist Party rule is crumbling. China's domestic economy is faltering, its real estate and industrial sectors flashing recession signals. The Party's once-effective social contract—'stay out of politics and we'll deliver prosperity'—is losing credibility amid youth unemployment and economic stagnation. Click here to read more…
