Austria Wants EUR 600 M from EU to Cover Extra 2015 Asylum Costs
Date
2/7/2016 12:24:12 PM
(MENAFN- The Journal Of Turkish Weekly) Austria has asked the European Commission for EUR 600 M to cover thecostsrelated to providingcarefor a larger-than-expected number ofasylum seekersaccepted by the country last year.
The request had been sent by Austrian Finance Minister Hans JörgSchellingto European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker on January 25 Austrian daily Kurier reported on Saturday.
In the letterSchellingsaid that while Austria could providecarefor about 35000asylum seekersper year some 90000 had arrived in 2015.
Withcostsof EUR 11000 per refugee Austria had to spend an unbudgeted EUR 600 M to provide housing andcarefor the additional 55000 asylum seekers.
Austria accepted 28000asylum seekersin 2014. Last year’s surge in migrant and refugee influx to Europe made Austria one of countries taking in mostasylum seekerson the continent relative to its population of 8.7 milllion.
In a related development Austrian Chancellor WernerFaymannhas said that the EU's border agency Frontex should send back toTurkeythemigrantsit picks trying to reach Greece AFP reported on Saturday.
"Frontex must pick up the people fleeing to Greece. We have to save all of them but then these people should be sent directly toTurkey" the newswire quotedFaymannas saying on the website of Austrian tabloid Oesterreich.
Faymannalso said that he had proposed the idea as an "optimum solution" toTurkey’s Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu at the international donor conference for Syria in London on Thursday.
Last monthFaymannsaid thatAustria had decided to cap the number ofrefugeesit wants to accept to 37500 this year and a total of 127500 through 2019.
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