The EU’s migrant crisis – Now they’re housing migrants in tents for the winter
In Austria immigration is now exceeding levels last seen in the 2015 crisis
Montage © Facts4EU.Org
Federal government erects tented camps as winter approaches, to howls of protest
We have previously reported on the huge numbers of migrants now entering the European Union again. The total numbers for the EU27 mask some very important differences between the countries, however. Today we look at just one of these countries, which is now housing migrants in tents.
A country best known amongst British people as the land of ‘Edelweiss’, the von Trapp Family Singers, and some excellent skiing, Austria is facing an immigration crisis akin to that of 2015, when Germany’s Angela Merkel unilaterally and notoriously opened her country’s doors to all migrants and precipitated an enormous wave of immigration into the EU.
Brexit Facts4EU.Org Summary
Austria's migration crisis
Monthly levels now exceed 2015
- Three tented camps so far
- 40 large tents
- Asylum levels are now the highest on record
[Sources: Das Bundesamt für Fremdenwesen und Asyl (BFA) | Austrian media.]
© Brexit Facts4EU.Org 2022 - click to enlarge
Putting Austria’s problems into a UK context
Austria’s population is only 8,955,797, according to the latest official figures from the EU Commission at the end of 2021. By contrast, the UK’s population in 2020 was 67,081,000, according to the Office for National Statistics.
This means that readers have to multiply Austria’s numbers by 7.5 times, to understand the problems Austria is facing. To give an example, this would make the number of first-time asylum applications in Austria in the first eight months of this year 410,000. This number does not include those who cross the border undetected, nor the large number of Ukrainian refugees.
The locals are not a happy bunch of campers
Perhaps unsurprisingly, local residents in the areas where the tented camps are being constructed are not happy. One of the local mayors called the actions: “inhumane... especially at this time of year.” He also acknowledged, however, that there was fear in his community about the new arrivals.
Equally unsurprising is the open letter to the government published by migrant support organisations. In this letter they said :-
"Refugees in Austria are having to live in tents again. Nobody wants that and this inhumane accommodation is absolutely avoidable."
What does the Austrian government say?
The Austrian government says it has tripled capacity this year but all beds have been taken, making it ncessary to set up tents.
"These are short-time emergency measures to increase our capacities on a day-to-day basis," a spokesman for the federal agency in charge told Agence France Presse.
Austria’s problems have been exacerbated by the huge numbers of Ukrainian migrants fleeing Putin’s war in their own country. These people are not included in the official asylum statistics as they are given a fast-track procedure granting them the right to stay.
The opposition Freedom Party is highly critical of the government and is demanding an end to all immigration. "You have knowingly led our country into the same kind of disaster that we saw in 2015 and that will only get worse," said FPOe leader Herbert Kickl.
Observations
Perhaps readers can imagine the opprobrium that would be heaped on the United Kingdom if it housed migrants in tents.
Instead, we house them in hotels. The government is now reported to be considering booking individual rooms in hotels, in addition to bloc-booking entire hotels as at present. The reason given is the sheer number of migrants who have now made the crossing from France.
The number of illegal migrants crossing from France to the UK has now exceeded 40,000 this year. Pro rata to the population, Austria’s asylum seekers are over 10 times this amount – and this figure doesn’t include those who don’t apply for asylum, nor Ukrainians, as we pointed out above.
There can be no question that the EU is facing another migrant crisis. The Commission has been unable for many years to get EU27 governments to agree to take a collective approach. Now the problems for the Commission are even worse.
Right-of-centre governments are being elected, making the chances of a relaxed EU-wide policy to immigration increasingly less likely. After all, if even laid-back, ultra-liberal Sweden has elected a right-wing government, you know something is afoot….
Facts4EU.Org needs you today
We are a 'not for profit' team (we make a loss) and any payment goes towards the actual work, not plush London offices, lunch or taxi expenses, or other luxuries of some organisations.
We badly need more of our thousands of readers to become members, to support this work. Could this be you, today? Maybe you've been thinking about it, but just haven't got around to doing it? If so, let us reassure you. It's quick and easy and we use two highly secure payment providers. And we do NOT ask you for further support if you pay once - we just hope that you keep supporting us. Your membership stays anonymous unless you tell us otherwise.
Please don't assume that other people will keep us going - we don't receive enough to survive and we need your help today. Could you help us?
Most of our readers are well-informed and appreciate our fact-based articles, presented in a way you won't see anywhere else. We have far more to do in researching, publishing, campaigning and lobbying Parliament than we have in terms of the financial resources to fulfil these tasks. We badly need funding to continue - we rely 100% on public contributions from readers like you.
If you believe in a fully-free, independent, and sovereign United Kingdom, please join now. It’s quick, secure, and confidential, and you can use one of the links below or you can use our Support page here. You will receive a personal, friendly ‘thank you’ from a member of our team within 24 hours. Thank you for reading this.
[ Sources: Das Bundesamt für Fremdenwesen und Asyl (BFA) | Austrian government | EU Commission | ONS ] Politicians and journalists can contact us for details, as ever.
Brexit Facts4EU.Org, Mon 31 Oct 2022
Click here to go to our news headlines
Please scroll down to COMMENT on the above article.
And don't forget to actually post your message after you have previewed it!
Since before the EU Referendum, Brexit Facts4EU.Org
has been the most prolific researcher and publisher of Brexit facts in the world.
Supported by MPs, MEPs, & other groups, our work has impact.
We think facts matter. Please donate today, so that we can continue to ensure a clean Brexit is finally delivered.
Any credit card user
Quick One-off
From £5 - £1,000
Monthly
From £3 per month
Paypal Users Only - Choose amount first
Quick One-off
Monthly
Something to say about this? Scroll down for reader comments