Lower Austria closes 28 asylum centres this year
Thursday 29th October 2026 on 08:01 in
Austria
Twenty-eight asylum accommodation centres have closed in Lower Austria so far this year, ORF reported. Further closures are planned, while the state says it will not open any new centres.
Five planned closures were recently announced in Groß Gerungs, Krems, Wasenbruck in the municipality of Mannersdorf, Unterwaltersdorf and Wieselburg. Centres have also closed in St. Pölten, Bruck an der Leitha and Schottwien.
There are currently just under 350 asylum accommodation centres in the state, around 250 of which house fewer than 20 people. Lower Austria’s state councillor responsible for the issue, Martin Antauer of the FPÖ, said the review of centres would continue and more would close.
The FPÖ has cited low occupancy as a reason for the closures, saying the centres had recently been much less full. The state said it could not provide reasons for the closure of individual centres on data protection grounds.
Twenty-seven of the closures this year were agreed with the operators. The operator of one centre gave notice, saying the asylum business model was becoming less attractive in Lower Austria. The FPÖ said the number of asylum seekers in the state had fallen by 75 percent since the introduction of a benefits card.
The closures have prompted a dispute between the FPÖ and the ÖVP. FPÖ security and asylum spokesperson Andreas Bors said the ÖVP should stop taking credit for measures introduced in Lower Austria, including the closures, the benefits card, stricter registration requirements and an integration code. He also called on the interior minister to explain why Austria effectively still had open borders despite continued illegal migration.
The ÖVP in Lower Austria said the centres were closing because of what it called the tough, consistent but fair asylum policy of Interior Minister Gerhard Karner and the party. State party manager Matthias Zauner also cited the suspension of family reunification and said Austria had been the first European country to deport people to Syria.