Federal Counselor L AustriaToday, Tuesday (05/21/2024), Governor Karl Nehammer described the controversial British plan to deport asylum seekers to Rwanda as “pioneering,” and considered that the European Union must follow that model to stop illegal immigration.
“The Rwanda model is the solution so that we have safe asylum procedures in third countries, which is something we also have to put on the European Union’s agenda,” Nehammer announced at a press conference in Vienna after his meeting with the British Prime Minister. governor Rishi Sunak.
Austria is one of 15 EU countries that last week requested, in a letter sent to the European Commission, the possibility of transferring asylum seekers to third countries that do not belong to the Community Club and are considered “safe”, a letter that was not signed by either Germany, Spain or France.
Nehammer stated that Austria and the United Kingdom are “strategic partners in ensuring that asylum procedures are implemented in safe third countries,” and insisted that the entire European Union must follow Austria’s example.
In Vienna, Sunak welcomed this initiative: “It is increasingly clear that many other countries agree that this is the approach that is needed: bold, innovative and seeking partnerships with safe countries.” The British politician stressed that immigration is “one of the crucial issues of our time”, which we cannot “continue as before.”
Sunak’s government has been planning to send asylum seekers to Rwanda for some time, but has so far failed to do so due to, among other problems, To dissenting court opinions. a The new law was approved in April Rwanda has been declared a safe country, which will allow asylum seekers who arrived illegally to be sent there after January 1, 2022. The first flights are scheduled to take off in July.
In the first visit by a British Prime Minister to Austria since 2015, Sunak was received on Tuesday in Vienna with military honors. The visit was interpreted as a sign of support for his immigration policy. This year, legislative elections will be held in the United Kingdom, and given the large difference in opinion polls, Sunak wants to gain points through a tough stance against immigration, according to analysts.
LGC (EFE, DPA)
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