'There’s No Way €100 Will Influence Migrant's Choice of Country' – Analyst

Austria's government plans to cut benefit payments for immigrants and refugees. The main benefit payment will be capped at €563 and will be available after five years. It will increase to €863 after immigrants pass a German language test. Sputnik discussed this with Katerina Kratzmann, Independent expert on migration, integration and asylum.

Sputnik: How will Austria's plan to cut benefits affect the migrants and refugees that are in the country?

Katerina Kratzmann: I think behind this is the issue of social justice, this, of course, gives the answer to people feeling that this is sort of unfair that migrants coming to Austria get a certain amount of money without ever having paid into the social system. So now, as a consequence, German is key. People have to have language skills to claim the full amount of benefits. In my opinion it’s okay to encourage people to integrate.

Sputnik: That’s going to be very difficult because, as far as I understand, a small percentage of the migrants are prepared to really learn the language and really integrate, aren’t they?

Katerina Kratzmann: I think a lot of migrants are prepared to integrate and to learn the German language, but if you encourage people a little bit more and force them a little bit it gives them encouragement to a higher degree than not encouraging people. At the same time, you should not forget, and that's the problematical part, that there’s a certain background, people are refugees mainly. They did not come to Austria because they wanted to claim benefits or because they are migrants, but they had to because they are fleeing the country of origin.

Plus, social benefits are what the word says. They are social benefits to support those in need, and they should, therefore, not be subject to any condition, and if you talk about the minimum, also the minimum means the minimum you need to exist and live in Austria. If you cut down the minimum, of course, the question arises, how shall you live beyond the minimum, so the consequence, that you asked me, people are now debating in Austria, and some are saying it is going to have an effect on criminal statistics, because maybe people will become criminals because they don’t have enough money to support their living, others are saying it will encourage people to learn German, so they don’t fall under the minimum, but they meet the criteria to get the minimum, it remains to be seen what the consequences will be for people.

Sputnik: How’s the public in Austria going to react to this plan? Will it be welcomed?

Katerina Kratzmann: In Austria it's a very highly discussed issue of migration integration, as we have all over Europe, and people are sort of divided in two sides. One side is saying that people have to integrate and you have to force them a little bit more, you have become more restrictive after the refugee crisis has gone too far and people have to integrate, that’s what we want. And on the other side, there are people who are saying we have to support people, give them time, the integration process takes time, it’s not from day one, so they have a more liberal approach, and, of course, Austria's a diverse society, we have all the different voices in society and it's discussed and debated.

Sputnik: Do you think that these measures might actually stem the flow of new arrivals of migrants?

Katerina Kratzmann: No, from my background no. The Austrian perception is, it's a small country, and it's more like a political game, you might think you gain some political voices by convincing the people that you’re doing something against migration, and a lot of the people are against migrants and refugees now, and there’s a certain polarization within society and people are afraid more people are coming, but in reality if you go over the border of the small country, and you look at what’s happening in the countries of origin and the countries of transit, there is no way that €100 more or less will influence decision of a single migrant to go to a certain country or not go to a certain country. Because the need and the desperateness of refugees is much higher than trying to find out what’s the highest amount of money they can get in a certain country.

Sputnik: What are the chances there might be a legal challenge against Austria‘s plan from the European Union?

Katerina Kratzmann: I think that's something that also remains to be seen. We have this rule already in Upper Austria that the minimum has to be gained by meeting certain criteria and that also has to receive a constitutional yes or no.  That's something going on in Austria already. I would not be surprised if something is coming from the European Union, but as you know, these processes take a lot of time, so even if it’s only for 2-3-4 years for the politicians it makes sense to do this because you're sending a political symbol, you’re doing something, you're having an activity, and you're saving some money for 2-3 years, even if it's then coming out of the Constitution and you have to change the law again.

Sputnik: When we talk about the difficulty of integrating migrants one has to bear in mind that, yes, perhaps, there needs to be more of a push and, perhaps, more of involvement of local people in helping these people integrate, but there’s the different ages. The younger people, the younger migrants will certainly be interested in learning the language, in integrating, but people of an older age might find it very difficult?

Katerina Kratzmann: Yes, very. And you cannot forget that German is a very hard language to learn. It’s not like learning Spanish or English which are little bit simpler languages to learn, so yes, for older people it is very difficult. At the same time you have to have a balance between encouraging people and even if they’re older, it's good if they learn German to a limited degree to be able to buy some water in the shop, or talk to the neighbor, or have a little chat here and there, because otherwise you’re completely excluded. We have parents here in schools and they are not able to talk to the teachers because they can't speak German to a certain degree, and now to expect every teacher to learn Arabic, for example, that’s not going to happen. So I do understand that there is this need and not only politicians, but everybody in the integration sector is saying German is key, you have to learn a certain amount of German, but then it's questionable if you can really encourage this by cutting down money, and saying we’re not paying you a certain amount anymore, and we’re really threatening your existence by this.

The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the speaker and do not necessarily reflect those of Sputnik.