Annual Reports

The Annual Policy Report 2009 provides an overview of migration and asylum-related developments and debates in Austria. The report concentrates on the two amendments of the Aliens’ Law which were adopted in 2009 and entered into force on 1 January 2010. One deals primarily with the revision of different humanitarian residence permits. The other amendment introduced significant changes to the immigration and asylum system in Austria, including subsequent asylum applications, the treatment of delinquent persons granted asylum and beneficiaries of subsidiary protection, as well as age assessment.

The National Report describes the statistical trends in migration, international protection, refusals, apprehensions, residence permits, and return for the year 2009 in Austria. The report stresses that the Austrian net-migration gain was about 40 per cent smaller than in the previous year, which mainly resulted from a significant increase of outflows. Furthermore, in line with global trends, an increase in asylum applications by 24 per cent was registered in Austria in 2009. After a sharp decrease of the number of irregular migrants apprehended in 2007 mainly caused by the exclusion of citizens of Romania  and Bulgaria as a result of their EU accession, the number continued to increase (i.e. by 18% between 2008 and 2009). Also the number of persons that were ordered to leave Austria increased in 2009, i.e. by +20 per cent compared to 2008.

This Policy Report gives an overview of the key political debates and developments in the field of migration and asylum in Austria in 2008. One of the main policy and legislative developments was the debate on the criteria for granting humanitarian residence which led to a request by the Constitutional Court to specify the criteria in the Settlement and Residence Law. Another important development was the establishment of a National Action Plan on Trafficking in Human Beings. The most important institutional development constituted the establishment of the Asylum Court which – as of 1 July 2008 – replaced the Independent Federal Asylum Senate as the second instance asylum authority.

The National Report provides an overview of statistical trends in migration, international protection, irregular entry and stay, residence permits, and return for the year 2008 in Austria. One of the main developments was the increase of immigration to Austria by 3 per cent compared to 2007. This upswing has to be seen in the light of the accession of Bulgaria and Romania to the European Union in 2007. With regard to international protection a continued decline in asylum applications could be observed in Austria since 2002. This trend was discontinued in 2008 when the number increased by 6 per cent compared to 2007.

This report gives an overview of the developments in the Austrian immigration, asylum and integration policy, legislation and debates in 2007. Among the important institutional developments are the establishment of an Integration Platform and the decision to establish an Asylum Court. Furthermore, a number of new laws were adopted. Among the most significant laws are the Prison Relief Package and the new laws concerning the asylum procedure, which were adopted in the context of the establishment of the Asylum Court. Policy debates deal mainly with the call for a reform of the migration system in order to open the labour market for highly skilled workers and to facilitate the application procedure.

The National Report analyses the trends and changes in Austrian asylum and migration statistics for the year 2007. A main long-term trend highlighted in the report is the decline in the number of asylum applications in Austria since 2002, a consequence of the coming into effect of the Dublin Convention in 2003. This trend continued in 2007 when the number of asylum applications declined by two thirds compared to 2002. In contrast to the area of asylum, immigration to Austria gained momentum in 2007, mainly as a result of the second wave of the EU Eastern enlargement.