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IMMIGRATION

Sending so many refugees ‘unacceptable’

Austria's decision to only accept 80 asylum seekers a day while letting thousands of others transit through sends "the wrong signal" and is "unacceptable", German Interior Minister Thomas de Maiziere said on Sunday.

Sending so many refugees 'unacceptable'
Photo: Twitter/Bild.de

Berlin fears many of these migrants are heading straight for Germany, where tensions are on the rise after the country saw an influx of over a million asylum seekers last year, putting huge pressure on Chancellor Angela Merkel's open-door policy.

“It won't work if some countries think they can solve the problem by putting extra weight on Germany's back,” de Maiziere told ARD public television, accusing Vienna of failing to carry out adequate checks on those being let through.

Despite strong objections from the European Union, Austria on Friday introduced a daily limit of 80 migrants who are allowed to claim asylum while allowing 3,200 migrants a day to transit through.

“Even for security reasons, this is unacceptable. We won't allow this to continue long term,” de Maiziere said, adding that he intended to bring up the issue at the next gathering of EU interior ministers in Brussels on Thursday.

The asylum cap “is an Austrian decision”, he said. “But to say that 3,200 can continue towards Germany is the wrong signal,” he added. “The figure is much too high. We won't accept it and that's why we need to talk about this.”

Austria's move was the latest example of unilateral action taken by an EU country to stem the migrant flow, as the bloc struggles to cope with the continent's worst migrant crisis since World War II.

FAR-RIGHT

Germany issues entry ban to Austrian far-right activist Sellner

Radical Austrian nationalist Martin Sellner has been banned from entering Germany, it emerged on Tuesday, days after he was deported from Switzerland.

Germany issues entry ban to Austrian far-right activist Sellner

Sellner, a leader of Austria’s white pride Identitarian Movement, posted a video of himself on X, formerly Twitter, reading out a letter he said was from the city of Potsdam.

A spokeswoman for the city authorities confirmed to AFP that an EU citizen had been served with a “ban on their freedom of movement in Germany”.

The person can no longer enter or stay in Germany “with immediate effect” and could be stopped by police or deported if they try to enter the country, the spokeswoman said, declining to name the individual for privacy reasons.

READ ALSO: Who is Austria’s far-right figurehead banned across Europe?

“We have to show that the state is not powerless and will use its legitimate means,” Mike Schubert, the mayor of Potsdam, said in a statement.

Sellner caused an uproar in Germany after allegedly discussing the Identitarian concept of “remigration” with members of the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) at a meeting in Potsdam in November.

Reports of the meeting sparked a huge wave of protests against the AfD, with tens of thousands of Germans attending demonstrations across the country.

READ ALSO:

Swiss police said Sunday they had prevented a hundred-strong far-right gathering due to be addressed by Sellner, adding that he had been arrested and deported.

The Saturday meeting had been organised by the far-right Junge Tat group, known for its anti-immigration and anti-Islamic views.

The group is also a proponent of the far-right white nationalist Great Replacement conspiracy theory espoused by Sellner’s Identitarian Movement.

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