"Refugees" in a hurry to go home? New turn of a migratory situation in Europe
Migrants do not like Austrian social policy
Most of them are ordinary migrants who went to Europe for social and economic reasons. The polarization of the modern world in terms of the level and quality of life is really impressive, but it does not give people from underdeveloped countries any reason to impersonate “refugees” (that is, people who have to flee — from wars, revolutions, pogroms, and so on). Moreover, as it turns out on the example of the situation with Austria, many of those who leave the "inhospitable" European country return home - it means there is not so bad. It did not work out to the European Union countries this time, it will turn out to be the next - it is precisely this logic that guides a significant part of immigrants from completely peaceful, but economically and politically unfavorable countries. Thus, Martin Gantner, a representative of the Caritas charitable organization, said that the “refugees” were leaving Austria because they had other ideas about this country. In addition, according to Gantner, part of the "refugees" misses their families. Naturally, after reading these terms, legitimate questions immediately arise: if the "refugees" really escape from war and violence, then there is no time for meeting any expectations, and, of course, what does it mean to miss their families? Does a sane person throw his wife, children or elderly parents into mortal danger in a warring or revolting country? Of course no. But an economic migrant who travels from a more or less peaceful country to improve his well-being, first finds out the realities of the host society himself, and then either transports the family (if he likes everything), or will send financial assistance to the family (if he likes, but not really), or will go back (if it is convinced that it will not be possible to improve welfare or it will be very difficult). Actually, we see this logic using the example of the behavior of migrants who tried under the guise of refugees to enter the EU countries. According to the Austrian Ministry of the Interior, only from January to November 2015 of the year thousands of people from Kosovo, 1,1 of Iraqi citizens and 530 of Afghanistan’s citizens left for 120’s homeland. Since September 2015, the trend towards the departure of “refugees” from Austria has become even more pronounced.
According to another human rights activist, Günter Ecker, who heads the Vienna Association for the Protection of Human Rights, the tendency for the “refugees” to leave Austria will not disappear in the near future. And this is explained by the fact that many of them have a discrepancy between the expected and the real. Thus, people from Iraq are dissatisfied with the organization of social protection and the length of granting refugee status, as well as the fact that they will be able to transport their families to Austria no sooner than a year later. As for people from Kosovo, getting refugee status turned out to be even more difficult than for Iraqis or Afghans. Indeed, there has been no war in Kosovo for a long time; accordingly, there can be no reason to be called refugees and receive appropriate social protection. It turns out that people from Kosovo are ordinary migrants who “fool” European migration and social services, trying to impersonate themselves as “refugees”.
Austria will build a wall too
Recall that over the past year the migration situation in Europe has seriously deteriorated, almost becoming catastrophic for the EU countries. Many European countries are failing to cope with the influx of migrants gushing from unstable or dysfunctional countries of Asia and Africa. The main flow of migrants to Europe is carried out in two main directions - through the Mediterranean Sea to Greece and Italy and through the Balkan Peninsula to the countries of Central Europe. Hungary and Austria ended up on the road of migrants - they border the Balkan countries and take the brunt of tens of thousands of migrants.
Since the beginning of September alone, 2015 has brought more than 200 thousands of migrants to Austria. Most of them, however, did not plan to remain in Austria, but hoped to get shelter in Germany, Denmark, Sweden or Norway. However, thousands of migrants settle on Austrian soil. In the country there are significant benefits associated with the granting of refugee status. Thus, a refugee receives an allowance in the amount of 800 euros per each family member. For most of the countries where migrants come from, this is an astronomical sum. Therefore, migrants do their best to knock out refugee status and get funding. It can be said that this is one of the main strategic goals for every migrant heading to Europe. However, the increase in the number of migrants, including both those who achieved refugee status and those who did not receive it, inevitably entails an increase in financial costs from the Austrian budget. According to Austrian Finance Minister Jörn Schelling, in 2016, the share of migration costs in relation to Austria’s GDP will increase from 0,1% in 2015 to 0,3%. The annual costs for each refugee in Austria in the coming year may increase from € 9 593 to € 10 724. In total, at least 1 billion euros will have to be spent on solving the migration problems of Austria. First of all, it will be necessary to provide arriving refugees with housing, food, medical supplies, as well as to create and implement special programs for the employment of immigrants and their cultural and social integration into Austrian society. For these purposes it is planned to allocate from the budget of the country at least 565 million euros. Another 345 million euros will be allocated to the federal states of Austria to provide solutions to the migration problem at the regional level.
The situation on the borders of Austria became so tense that the Minister of Internal Affairs of Austria Johanna Mikl-Leitner spoke in favor of building a special wall along the country's border with Slovenia. According to the minister, in the case of building a wall, crossing the border will become more civilized, while the Austrian official denies rumors about the complete closure of the border. Apparently, Austria decided to follow the example of its neighbor Hungary. As you know, in the summer of 2015, the Hungarian leadership announced the start of construction of a special wall on the border of Hungary and Serbia. In the opinion of the Hungarian Minister of Defense, Chaba Hand, this measure is being taken to prevent the entry of illegal migrants who threaten the national security of the Hungarian state. Meanwhile, the decision of Hungary, voiced by the European Union in June of this year, caused sharp discontent. Representatives of the European Union believe that the construction of the wall and other anti-migrant measures of the Hungarian leadership may hinder the implementation of the European strategy to accommodate migrants, in accordance with which each EU country must place a certain number of people from Asian and African countries on its territory. The Hungarian government, in turn, does not think so. Indeed, until recently, Hungary was not an attractive target for African and Asian migrants, since the level of economic and social development of the country, compared with Germany or France, remained very low. For a long time, Hungary was in fact a mono-ethnic state. The overwhelming majority of the population here were Hungarians, and the existing national minorities have lived on this land for centuries (we are talking about Hungarians, Romanians, Ruthenians, Slovaks). The penetration of tens of thousands of migrants from Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria, Turkey, Kosovo and Metohija to Hungary is, in the opinion of Hungarian politicians, a serious threat to the national unity and identity of the Hungarian state.
October 23 about the construction of the wall spoke and the leadership of Slovenia. Slovenia, like Hungary, is experiencing serious problems with the influx of migrants. From the Balkan countries located to the south of Slovenia, thousands of migrants are sent, who no longer simply try to cross the border, posing as “refugees”, but are beginning to show aggressive behavior. On October 18, the Slovenian leadership was forced to involve units of the Slovene armed forces in protecting the state border of the republic. It should be noted that the increased flow of migrants through Slovenia was due to the closure of the passage from Croatia to Hungary, which on the night of October 17 2015. was blocked by the Hungarian border guards. The passage to Hungary was also closed at the border of the country with Serbia. The Hungarian leadership then motivated its decision by the lack of provision of registration services to migrants by the Croatian authorities. After this decision of Budapest, the majority of migrants reoriented to the border with Slovenia. After the flow of migrants shifted to Slovenia, Austria had to face the massive arrival of migrants. Recall that in a small population and area of Austria’s territory, there are only 8,5 million. human. Once Austria was also considered one of the most homogeneous ethno-confessional countries of Central Europe. The overwhelming majority of the population here were Austrian Germans, as well as representatives of six recognized national minorities - Croats, Slovenes, Czechs, Slovaks, Hungarians, Gypsies. The compact groups of the Slovenian, Croatian and Hungarian population lived in Styria, Carinthia and Burgenland. However, recently in Austria the proportion of immigrants from the countries of the Middle East and Africa has significantly increased. It was 2013 Austria was among the leaders among European countries that host foreign migrants. This situation has affected the national composition of the population. Today, 10,5% of the population of Austria is represented by foreign migrants. At the same time, a third of migrants arrived in Austria from countries that are not members of the European Union. A significant proportion of migrants traditionally went to Austria from Romania and Bulgaria (up to 21% of the migration flow), as well as Serbia and Montenegro. However, far more than the immigrants from the neighboring countries of Eastern and Southern Europe, the Austrian leadership is disturbed by uncontrolled flows of migrants from Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria and other eastern countries. Naturally, many Austrian politicians are concerned about the processes and are in favor of a strict restriction of external migration to the country. In this, they associate themselves with many other politicians of neighboring European countries, who see in the unprecedented growth of migration the gravest threat to European cultural identity and the well-being of modern Europe.
Kosovo: there is no war, but there are “refugees”
Attention should be paid to the fact that one of the most numerous groups of migrants who are trying to penetrate into the countries of the European Union, including Austria, are Kosovars - residents of Kosovo and Metohija. Until recently, this land was part of Serbia. Officially, the territory of the Republic of Kosovo is still considered to be part of Serbia and is part of the administrative-territorial unit “Autonomous Province of Kosovo and Metohija”. Historically, Kosovo is the core of Serbian statehood, but after the Ottoman conquest of the Balkans, a gradual outflow of the Serbian population outside Kosovo began. The Ottomans liberated the lands inhabited by Albanians loyal to them. As a result, by the twentieth century in Kosovo, a significant part of the population was precisely the Albanian population. This caused significant Albanian-Serbian contradictions in the first half of the twentieth century. But until the end of the twentieth century. to achieve the proclamation of the Albanian state on the territory of Kosovo or the annexation of the province to Albania, the Kosovars did not succeed. The situation changed after the collapse of the Federal Yugoslavia, which was actively promoted by the external factor, namely, the interest of the USA and NATO in weakening Serbia and, accordingly, Russian influence in the Balkans.
- fought for independence, but could not build the state
It was with the direct support of the United States and NATO that the Republic of Kosovo artificial formation appeared. 22 September 1991 was proclaimed the creation of the Republic of Kosovo, which was immediately recognized by Albania, but did not recognize Yugoslavia and the overwhelming majority of countries in the world. Since 1991, the Kosovo Liberation Army has fought a partisan war in the region. During this time, the political and economic situation in the province was destabilized, many ethnic Albanians migrated to other European countries, where they formed large diasporas. According to some reports, in the 1990-e years, the Albanian mafia has become one of the strongest in Europe. This was facilitated, among other things, by the armed conflict in Kosovo. In the 1999 year, after the US and NATO armed aggression against Yugoslavia, the territory of Kosovo came under the formal administration of the United Nations. In fact, the power in Kosovo and Metohija was in the hands of Albanian nationalists from the Kosovo Liberation Army and other similar organizations. A large part of the non-Albanian population of the region, primarily the Serbs, was forced to leave Kosovo - to be here was extremely unsafe due to ethnic cleansing and a huge increase in crime.
17 February 2008, the Kosovo Parliament declared Kosovo independence unilaterally. Currently, 108 of 193 (56%) members of the United Nations (UN) have recognized Kosovo’s independence from Serbia. During the war years, Kosovo’s economic and social infrastructure has been seriously undermined. Moreover, the Albanian field commanders, who were pursuing the goal of seizing power or resources, did not care at all about the economic and social development of the territory under their control. As a result, modern-day Kosovo represents a quasi-state entity that has practically failed economically. In the country, only according to official data, more than 50% of the working-age population is unemployed. Among the younger generation of Kosovars, the unemployment rate is even higher - here you can talk about 70% of the unemployed. Kosovars are surviving either at the expense of the “shadow economy” or at the expense of relatives working in other European countries. It turned out that it was impossible to live in sovereign Kosovo for the majority of the same Kosovo Albanians, after which the region, for which the Albanian armed formations had fought for so long, became rapidly empty. The outflow of the population to other European countries has become for modern Kosovo one of the most important problems, perhaps more important than even the economic situation - after all, soon a partially recognized state may simply not remain a large part of its population. The consequences of migration are already noticeable - according to journalists, even the number of passers-by on the streets of Pristina and other Kosovo cities has decreased. In Kosovo schools, the number of classes is reduced, which entails a loss of work for teachers and, accordingly, the emergence of new unemployed, who are also leaving the country. More than a third of Kosovo’s residents are forced to live on less than 1,42 euros per day, with 18 percent getting less than 94 cents a day. This forces most Kosovars to quit work in Kosovo and travel outside the country - they hope that even if they do not find work in the EU countries, at least they will be able to live on the generous benefits that Western European governments pay to refugees. It is precisely the social benefits of European states that Kosovars are counting on when traveling through Serbia, Slovenia or Hungary. For the opportunity to live on benefits, they are willing to pay out of their savings to carriers and corrupt police officers and border guards - just to get to the borders with Hungary or Austria.
According to official data from the Federal Office for Migration and Refugees of Germany, it was only in January 2015 that residents of Kosovo filed so many requests for asylum in Germany that they took second place after the citizens of Syria. And this is despite the fact that hostilities are not conducted in the territory of Kosovo. If Syrians can be understood - they are being saved from a real war, then Kosovars are trying to get into the more “well-fed”, in their opinion, European countries.
In the first six weeks of 2015, 18 of thousands of residents of Kosovo entered the Federal Republic of Germany. On the other hand, before the start of 2015, this level of migration was not characteristic of Kosovars. For the entire 2014 year, only about 7 thousands of Kosovo Albanians arrived in Germany. Unlike Syria, by the beginning of 2015, there were no events in Kosovo that could have stimulated such an incredible increase in migration. One can really think about the words of the Czech President Miloš Zeman, who called the migration situation in Europe someone's planned and well-sponsored action. Kosovars in such an action can be a typical bargaining card, since Kosovo is the most economically unstable part of Europe. Real control over Kosovo is in the hands of local Albanian leaders acting in the interests of the United States. According to media reports, buses to the north go every day from the capital of Pristina, Kosovo, at least a dozen. Buses are traveling from other cities in Kosovo. Through the territory of Serbia, Kosovo migrant flows move to the border with Hungary, and the Serbian authorities, despite the negative attitude towards Kosovo and the non-recognition of Kosovo passports, let Kosovars pass through their territory.
From Hungary, Kosovars seek in the future to penetrate into Germany or Austria, as well as into the countries of Scandinavia. That is - exactly where the most developed systems of social protection of refugees operate and the best living conditions are observed according to European standards. This approach contributes to the formation and approval of a completely parasitic attitude of migrants towards Europe. Therefore, it is not surprising that the tightening of immigration policies and the weakening of social benefits for refugees immediately caused discontent among the visitors to Austria. After all, they went for the opportunity to live on benefits, but it turned out that obtaining refugee status is a very painstaking procedure, and the same Kosovars can actually not count on its successful passage. After all, by the standards of the European Union, Kosovo is considered to be a completely acceptable territory for life, and therefore people who come out of it cannot receive refugee status. The head of the German Office for Migration and Refugees, Manfred Schmidt, said that the citizens of Kosovo are not granted asylum in the territory of the Federal Republic of Germany. Fifteen years earlier, when hostilities were taking place in the territory of the former Yugoslavia, Germany provided asylum to numerous refugees from a belligerent country — both Serbs and Albanians, and representatives of other nationalities. But after the fighting was completed, the former Yugoslav republics were included in the list of "safe countries." This included, in particular, Serbia, Macedonia and Bosnia and Herzegovina. After being included in this list, citizens of the listed countries are not considered as “refugees” in the European Union. However, Kosovo is not yet included in the official list, although it is recognized as a safe country for living. Therefore, people from Kosovo do not receive asylum in Germany. After the Kosovars are denied asylum, they need to leave the territory of the FRG within two weeks. Otherwise, the failed “refugees” begin to be considered as illegal migrants, followed by their detention and deportation, followed by a ban on entry to any countries of the Schengen zone for a period of five years. Apparently, it is precisely this nuance that causes the negative reaction of the “refugees” from Kosovo, who are gradually beginning to return home (although a significant number of Kosovars still manage to leak into the Schengen countries as illegal migrants). More resourceful and prone to adventure, however, are trying to impersonate ... for the Syrians or Iraqis. And so, by fraud, to get the long-awaited refugee status.
Naturally, the response of the EU countries to the massive influx of migrants from Kosovo was an attempt to pressure the Kosovo leadership to stop migration. However, it is widely known that the Pristina authorities are distinguished by actual uncontrollability. Since the former Albanian field commanders, namely, they play a key role in the real governance of Kosovo, they are well aware that the United States needs them and Washington will cover virtually any of their actions, they agree only in words with the requirements of the European Union either take to change the situation. The fact is that the yesterday’s militants and the mob are not able to restore the destroyed economic infrastructure of Kosovo. Moreover, they diligently plunder the income that the European Union, the USA and international organizations make in Kosovo. Naturally, in this situation, it is beneficial for the Kosovo leadership that Kosovars go to Europe, and not create problems in Kosovo itself. Indeed, in Europe, someone will be able to find work, someone will engage in illegal business, or even take the criminal path - the main thing is that they will not demand work and money on the streets of Pristina, and will also be able to send money to their relatives who remain in Kosovo. Therefore, while formally Pristina urges its citizens not to go to Europe, in practice, the mass departure of Kosovars continues. Tickets to the Hungarian-Serbian border are bought up at very expensive prices, and crowded buses, too, every day, depart from Kosovo's cities to the north. It is possible that the forces interested in the growth of migration are conducting a special campaign among the Kosovo population, spreading rumors about incredible wages and enormous social benefits and benefits in the rich countries of Europe. On the spot, faced with the unwillingness of Austria, Hungary, Slovenia, Germany to accept and register so many migrants, the disillusioned Kosovars return home. Another fairly large group of migrants who pretend to be “refugees” are residents of Asian and African countries, in which no large-scale wars are currently taking place, but living conditions in which encourage many citizens to seek a “better life” in emigration. A typical example is Pakistan, from which people also try to penetrate into the countries of the European Union.
Migration crisis is not solved?
But if the migrants from Kosovo can be denied on the basis of relevant laws, then the situation with the Syrians, Iraqis or Afghans is more complicated. Syrian citizens definitely pass in the EU as refugees. In the fairness of this classification, there can be no doubt, since fighting is indeed taking place in Syria. The situation is similar with Iraq, to a lesser extent with Afghanistan. Nevertheless, some European politicians express doubts about the Syrian or Iraqi refugees. So, the same Czech President Milos Zeman in one of his interviews called young men arriving from Syria cowards, stressing that they, instead of restoring order in their country, preferred to leave it and move to a more prosperous Europe. A similar position is shared by many other European politicians. What to conceal - such statements can often be heard in Russia during the escalation of the war in the Donbas. At that time, many Russians were also outraged by the presence of men of fighting age among Donetsk and Lugansk refugees. However, not everyone wants or can fight, therefore, it is not necessary to go into moralizing and focus excessive attention on this issue. But the presence of young men among Syrian and Iraqi refugees causes some concern for Europeans for other reasons. First of all, there is no reason to deny the possibility that terrorists or persons associated with radical organizations could enter under the guise of "refugees". Among the perpetrators of terrorist acts in Paris, which killed more than a hundred and fifty people, were citizens of Syria. In conditions when every day tens of thousands of refugees arrive at the borders of the European Union, it is impossible to fully control the visitors. Accordingly, using confusion at the borders and congestion of border, police and immigration services, fighters of the same IS and other organizations can get to Austria, Germany, Hungary and other European countries. And the fact that hundreds of thousands of refugees from war-torn countries on the territory of European states find the perfect ground for the activities of terrorists is already on European soil. It is not by chance that the mass media repeatedly paid attention to the activities of emissaries of terrorist organizations in refugee camps.
The trend towards the departure of migrants from Austria, which is reported by the media, although it carries certain positive points for Vienna, will in fact not become prevalent in Europe. Moreover, the scale of migrants departing and arriving is incomparable. But even the fact that thousands of “refugees” leave Austria just because they are not satisfied with the “level of social protection” contributes to further strengthening in European countries a critical position on the current migration policy. An increasing number of European countries are beginning to question the policies of the leadership of the European Union, accusing the latter of meeting the interests of the United States of America, rather than European states. Austrian politician Johan Gudenus from the Free Austria party in one of his interviews quite succinctly expressed the point of view characteristic of a significant part of modern Europeans: “today in Europe, governments don't think much about their people, but think about what Brussels, the European Union, will say. Globalization has brought a lot of negativity. Nations lose their roots, which do not make the whole tree disappear. But people do not want to hang somewhere in the air! They have a longing, a desire to feel their community. States have historically developed as national institutions. And now in the European Union they want to destroy them and deprive peoples of the right to democratically determine their future ”(Quoted from: http://newsland.com/news/detail/id/954296/). Perhaps, the solution to the migration crisis, which all Europe is experiencing today, lies not so much on the plane of applied activity - strengthening state borders, strengthening migration control and police services, but in the area of ideology. First of all, European countries should review the ideological vector of their policies and understand whether Europe really needs migrants in such numbers and whether it makes sense to provide them with financial and social assistance from European budgets.
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