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How do foreigners feel about living in Austria?

Austria is home to an increasing number of foreigners. Do they feel at home?

How do foreigners feel about living in Austria?
A sign at the Austrian border. Photo: DPA

Each year, Austria releases its Statistical Yearbook for Migration and Integration. The most recent edition was released in June 2021. 

The report includes diverse findings relating to how many foreigners live in Austria, where people come from and how they feel to live in Austria. 

Almost a quarter come from a migrant background

The study found that almost a quarter of Austrian residents – 2.14 million people or 24.4 percent of the population – have a migrant background. 

This is an increase of 40 percent on the same figure from ten years ago. 

IN NUMBERS: How many people become Austrian each year – and where do they come from?

In fact, while Austria’s population is growing, it is growing only through migration. According to the director of Statistics Austria, Tobias Thomas, “without migration the number of inhabitants would, according to the population forecast, shrink to the level of the 1950s in the long term.”

Around 40 percent of those who have migrated to Austria come from European Union countries, with the remaining 60 percent from outside the EU. 

More than half a million come from the former Yugoslavia, while 270,000 come from Turkey. 

‘Migrant background’ refers to people from abroad or who have parents born abroad. 

How do migrants feel about Austria? 

Besides the cold, hard numbers, the yearbook also reveals migrants’ attitudes towards living in Austria. 

The authors interviewed around 3,500 migrants or people with a migrant background, breaking them into two categories. 

In total, 86 percent of those from Bosnia, Serbia and Turkey indicated they felt at home in Austria, while 90 percent of those from Syria, Afghanistan and Chechenia said they felt at home. 

These countries were chosen as they are the source countries of the greatest number of foreign residents living in Austria. 

Generally speaking, people who had been in Austria for longer felt more at home than newer arrivals – while money played a role in how ‘at home’ people felt. 

“Across all countries of origin, immigrants with a longer period of residence felt more at home or belonged to Austria than people who had not lived in Austria as long,” the authors wrote. 

“In addition, those migrants who could more easily manage their household income felt more at home in Austria or belonged to Austria than those who had (some) difficulty meeting their current expenses.

Of longer-term residents, people from Chechenia felt the most at home (93 percent) while people from Turkey felt the least at home (81 percent). 

Only a small minority of foreign residents – less than two percent – said they felt “not at home at all”. 

People are particularly at home in Vienna

Vienna, with the highest proportion of foreigners in Austria, is a popular destination for new arrivals. 

The study found that it is also popular for longer-term foreign residents. 

Vienna’s status as a popular migrant destination was solidified with the study, which found migrants felt at home in the Austrian capital. 

“It was also striking that those persons from traditional countries of immigration who live in Vienna felt particularly often at home or belonged to Austria. This correlation was not found among immigrants with a recent migration history,” the authors wrote. 

More information about the study – including the full report – can be found at the following link. 

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POLITICS

EXPLAINED: Austria wants to define its fundamental culture but what is it?

Politicians from Austria's centre-right ÖVP are putting together a definition of Austria's 'guiding culture', known in German as 'Leitkultur'. What is that and why are they doing it?

EXPLAINED: Austria wants to define its fundamental culture but what is it?

When you think of Austria, your first thoughts might be of Alpine hills, Schnitzel and traditional folk music. 

Is this what politicians are referring to when they talk about Austrian ‘Leitkultur’ or ‘leading or guiding culture’? 

Many in Austria are considering this question because the coalition government is honing in on this concept. 

Austria’s Integration Minister Susanne Raab, of the centre-right Austrian People’s Party (ÖVP), has been tasked by chancellor Karl Nehammer (ÖVP) to develop a legal definition of ‘Austrian guiding culture’.

It’s part of the “Austria Plan” that Nehammer presented earlier this year when he called for a “guiding Austrian culture by 2030, which should also be reflected in law as a national cultural asset”.

READ ALSO: ‘Austria Plan’ – What are the chancellor’s new plans for the country?

Raab said it should ensure “that symbols and behaviours that contradict our fundamental values can be treated in a legally differentiated manner”.

However, this topic has been the subject of heated debate with critics accusing politicians of using it to alienate immigrants, particularly asylum seekers and refugees.There is a fear that the ‘Leitkultur’ concept goes against multiculturalism and calls on people to conform to one ‘guiding culture’ without an acceptance of other ways of life outside western culture. 

The concept is not just a talking point in Austria – it’s also been discussed heavily in neighbouring Germany for years, particularly by centre-right and far-right parties. 

How is Austria planning to define Leitkultur?

The Austrian government says it wants to define a concept of national cultural heritage in law over the next six years. 

As a first step, the Integration Minister has brought together a panel of experts who will meet on Thursday.

Under the banner “Austrian identity and guiding culture: values of coexistence”, the first meeting will be an introductory exchange, according to Raab’s office. The minister will outline her approach to the topic before the discussion, Austrian newspaper Der Standard reported.

The panel includes Katharina Pabel, a lawyer from Linz, Rainer Münz, who worked for Erste Bank and advised Jean-Claude Juncker as President of the EU Commission and Wolfgang Mazal, a professor at the Institute for Labour and Social Law at the University of Vienna.

What is Austrian ‘guiding culture’?

In an interview with Der Standard before the meeting, Mazal said the initial discussion “should serve to find a consensus in society about what is important to us and what form of coexistence we should cultivate”. He added that the ‘Leitkultur’ debate should be a “process of reflection”.

Mazal does not share the criticism of the term – in his view, it is not about placing one culture above others. Similar to the mission statement of a company, a “guiding culture” should define the “fundamental direction” of a society, he said. 

But the ÖVP’s communication has been more rigid. Secretary General Christian Stocker, for instance, recently explained in a Facebook video that Austrian identity is “what defines us”. This goes “from A to Z”, for example from brass band music to the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra. “How we celebrate our festivals and holidays” is also part of our identity, he said. And “anyone who doesn’t want to accept all that is welcome to leave”, he made clear.

Overall, the People’s Party is focussing the debate very strongly on the topic of migration. Stocker says, for example, in the context of his comments on identity, that those “who have come to us” have done so voluntarily. “They have chosen this country and therefore they must also accept how we live in this country, what tradition and identity we have.”

In social media posts, Der Standard notes that the party states things like: “Anyone who believes that they should not shake a woman’s hand because she is ‘unclean’ must leave.” Or: “Anyone who rejects our way of life must leave!” 

Integration a key component 

Integration Minister Susanne Raab (ÖVP) told the Kronen Zeitung earlier this year that the concept was centred on integration. 

“Integration means learning the language, going to work and also accepting the values of our coexistence,” she said.

“And that is relevant because many people come to us who have been socialised completely differently. Where the culture is completely different, where women are worth less than men, where girls have no access to education and are forced into marriage or where the police are not your friend and helper, but highly corrupt. All of this is important to convey. And this is where immigrants also have to adapt.”

Raab added that it was possible for someone who did not adapt to face sanctions. 

“Yes, there will be measures that can be implemented in law, Raab told the newspaper, suggesting that could include cuts to social benefits, for example, or negative influences in the citizenship procedure or to asylum status.

The minister gave the example of when refugees come to Austria they have to take a German and values course as well as sign a declaration of integration otherwise there is a risk of having social benefits cut. The ÖVP is also currently considering further sanctions. 

Whatever the case, it is clear that the ÖVP is pushing for more integration measures in Austria, which is something they have been doing consistently. 

READ ALSO: Austrian minister wants foreigners to improve German levels to keep social benefits

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