MOSCOW (Sputnik) — On Thursday, Sobotka suggested banning asylum seekers from obtaining work permits in EU countries. He slammed the European Commission for proposing a blanket work permit for asylum seekers whose applications are likely to be upheld. Sobotka argued that such a system would prompt people in crisis-ridden countries to come to Austria to seek work, something he believes the country's labor market would be unable to cope with.
“The fact is that work is an important part of the integration of people. Waiting for the right to work over a long period makes it more and more difficult to get a job. It is also a fact that the Minister of the Interior Sobotka wants a possibility to keep the second labor market [non-profit] for asylum seekers open. What will be valid in this issue to be a charitable work is now in elaboration and will be defined till autumn,” Georg Niedermuhlbichler said.
“Our goal is to make qualified employees of the youth refugees of today. Therefore there is an included in the compulsory education or training till the age of 18 a facility for youth asylum seekers with a high probability of recognition of their asylum,” Niedermuhlbichler added.
The European Union is currently struggling to manage a massive refugee crisis with hundreds of thousands of people leaving conflict-torn countries in the Middle East and North Africa to escape violence and poverty and seek asylum in Europe.
