The number of refugees leaving Austria has increased significantly this year. According to current Interior Ministry figures, a total of 10,478 deportations took place from January to the end of October. Of these, 5,496 were on a voluntary basis (52 percent) and 4,982 were forced to leave (48 percent). Compared to last year, this means a 25 percent increase in deportations, although asylum applications will fall by almost 50 percent in 2023. Only 8,403 people were deported from the country in the first ten months last year.
More than 45 percent of those subjected to forced deportation had criminal convictions. The Federal Office for Immigration and Asylum (BFA) is increasingly focusing on increasing deportations. Over the past two weeks, a total of six charter repatriations were carried out, in addition to several individual repatriations. So far in 2023, ten Dublin Charter returns have been made to Bulgaria and seven each to Romania and Croatia.
A response from the Interior Ministry to Liberal MP Hannes Amsbauer shows that the number of people turning to asylum for basic care is still rising slightly. In September, 19,000 asylum seekers, more than 3,200 people entitled to asylum and 10,300 people entitled to subsidiary protection were in this care. This is 4,000 more than last year.
