Austria and Switzerland agree on action plan against migration – Vindobona.org
According to the Austrian Ministry of the Interior, it is the common goal of Austria and Switzerland to take measures to prevent irregular migration to or from Europe. The phenomenon of irregular migration, in particular via the Western Balkans route, also affects the common border area of both countries and was sharply criticized by the Austrian Minister of the Interior Gerhard Karner to his Swiss counterpart Karin Keller-Sutter.
“The action plan is an important signal that Switzerland and Austria are sending together in the fight against illegal migration and smuggling. This challenge can only be solved through close cooperation and partnership,” said Minister of the Interior Gerhard Karner at a press conference with Federal Councilor Karin Keller-Sutter in Zurich, where the new “Action Plan Austria – Switzerland” was presented.
“I think it is essential to put pressure together to take action against human traffickers,” added the interior minister. “No European country can tackle the problems of irregular migration alone. Joint cross-border cooperation is needed,” added Federal Councilor Keller-Sutter.
The action plan includes measures at bilateral and European level. In addition, lines of intervention at international level are outlined for the relevant migration routes. Measures are taken in accordance with international protection standards. In this context, the joint text of the two interior ministries mentioned the 1951 Geneva Convention on Refugees and the European Convention on Human Rights.
Meeting of Federal Minister Gerhard Karner and Federal Councilor Karin Keller-Sutter on the subject #Migration. Together we are making one today in Zurich #ActionPlan to expand cross-border cooperation! @EJPD_DFJP_DFGP @BMI_OE @MFA_Austria pic.twitter.com/cJHXvPaenk
— Austria in Switzerland (@AustriaInCH) September 28, 2022
Irregular migration has increased sharply in both countries in recent months, the two interior ministers emphasized this afternoon at a joint press conference in Zurich.
No country can cope with this problem alone, which is why “close cooperation” between Austria and Switzerland is necessary, said Karner and Keller-Sutter in unison. Together, secondary migration, i.e. moving on to other countries, should be combated in Europe.
Criticism of the visa policy of the Balkan states
Karner and Keller-Sutter see the reason for the increased number of asylum applications in the visa policy of some Balkan countries, especially Serbia. People from India, Pakistan, Tunisia, Burundi and other countries could enter Serbia by plane without a visa and then travel on to the EU with smugglers, the interior ministers criticized.
According to the action plan, the targeted use of existing cooperation platforms with the countries of the Western Balkans, especially within the framework of Switzerland’s migration partnerships with Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Kosovo, should remedy the situation.
At the same time, the asylum applications are practically hopeless, said Karner. In the first eight months of this year, 56,000 asylum applications were made in Austria, said the Minister of the Interior and spoke of an “almost dramatic situation”. Since the beginning of the year there have already been 32,000 negative asylum decisions, he said ORF.
At Austria’s initiative, a letter to the EU Commission is therefore being prepared, in which it is requested to put pressure on Serbia so that it adapts its visa regulations to those of the Schengen area. According to the Interior Ministry, the letter has not only been signed by Switzerland, but also by Slovenia, Croatia and Germany.
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