VIENNA (Sputnik) – The law was adopted after it had been signed by country’s President Alexander Van der Bellen and issued by the Federal Law Gazette, the OE24 media outlet reported.
The law will also force asylum seekers to pass a year-long integration program aimed at providing them with basic knowledge of the German language and European values. The program will also clarify asylum seekers’ work skills.
Austria has received over 130,000 asylum applications since mid-2015. In order to curb the influx of migrants, the government adopted one of the toughest asylum laws in Europe, which allows Austrian authorities to declare the state of emergency if the number of refugees suddenly rises, and reject asylum seekers at the border. It also introduced a cap on new arrivals, set at 37,500 asylum seekers per year.
