UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon yesterday hit out at what he called “increasingly restrictive” refugee policies in Europe as the continent faces its worst refugee crisis in decades.
“I am concerned that European countries are now adopting increasingly restrictive immigration and refugee policies,” Ban said in a speech to the Austrian parliament. “Such policies negatively affect the obligation of member states under international humanitarian law and European law.”
His comments came a day after the Austrian parliament adopted one of Europe’s toughest asylum laws, as the country’s political leaders struggle to halt the surging far-right, which is leading in presidential polls.
The hotly disputed bill, which passed by 98 votes to 67, allows the government to declare a “state of emergency” if refugee numbers suddenly rise and reject most asylum seekers directly at the border, including those from war-torn countries like Syria.
If the mechanism is triggered, border authorities will only grant access to refugees facing safety threats in a neighboring transit country or whose relatives are already in Austria.
Some groups including minors and pregnant women will be exempt from the rule.
The restrictions are similar to rules introduced by the right-wing government in Hungary last year.
In addition, members of parliament also voted to restrict existing asylum laws by placing limits on the length of asylum granted to refugees and making it harder for their families to join them.
Opposition parties and rights groups slammed the legislation, with the UN’s refugee agency warning that it “removes a centerpiece of refugee protection.”
However, Austrian Minister of the Interior Wolfgang Sobotka said Austria had no other choice as long as “so many other European Union members fail to do their part” to stop the influx.
Wedged between Europe’s two main refugee routes — the Balkans and Italy — Austria received about 90,000 asylum requests last year, the second-highest in the bloc on a per capita basis.
More than 1 million people, primarily from Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan, landed in Europe last year, triggering the continent’s worst refugee crisis since the aftermath of World War II.
To reduce the flow, the EU recently struck a controversial deal with Ankara, under which all migrants reaching Greece after March 20 would be returned to Turkey.
Although the pact has led to a sharp drop in arrivals, the International Organisation for Migration last week warned that the numbers were starting to rise again.
The crisis has boosted populist fringe parties across Europe, pressuring traditionally centrist governments to adopt a much firmer stance on refugees.
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