Lawyer warns Kurdish family still faces deportation

A Kurdish family living in Semriach for three years can remain in Austria for the time being after filing a subsequent asylum application, but its lawyer says the threat of deportation has not been lifted, ORF reports.

Graz-based lawyer Klaus Kocher, who has worked in asylum law for 30 years, said many people in Styria did not understand why the well-integrated family was facing deportation.

Kocher said he also saw both sides of the case. He recognised the family’s efforts and personal circumstances, but said the legal requirements for staying in Austria had not been met.

Humanitarian residence rights were also unlikely to provide a solution, he said. Although asylum procedures had become significantly faster, case law held that even five years in Austria was still too short in such proceedings. Integration could not overcome that requirement, Kocher said.

Subsequent asylum applications such as the one filed by the family were successful only in very few cases, according to the lawyer. The governor of Styria also had no formal means of intervening.

Kocher said the outlook was poor because of the family’s country of origin. In cases involving Kurdish people from Turkey that had crossed his desk in recent years, he said, none had ended with asylum being granted.

One possible option could be for the parents to apply from abroad for a Red-White-Red Card as workers.