Austria to Stop Refugee Family Reunifications in EU First

Austria announced Wednesday that it would pause family reunifications for those with asylum status starting in May, becoming the first in the European Union to do so.

Several EU countries are mulling stopping or tightening the right for people who cannot safely return to their home countries to bring their families, but so far none have a complete halt in place.

Austria has already halted family reunification for Syrians since the ouster of Syria’s leader Bashar al-Assad last December, arguing it has to reassess the situation and threatening their deportation.

Syrians make up the bulk of family reunifications, but a newly formed conservative-led government — under pressure at a time when anti-immigration sentiment is running high — has insisted it needs to stop all new entries.

Integration Minister Claudia Plakolm said the government would make a legal change to allow the interior ministry to issue a decree to halt family reunification.

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“On one hand, our systems have reached their limits and, on the other hand, the probability of successful integration decreases massively with each new arrival,” she said.

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