Karner rejects call to let asylum seekers work from day one

Austria’s interior minister has rejected Tirol Governor Anton Mattle’s proposal to let asylum seekers work from their first day in the country, according to ORF. Gerhard Karner said they could already take part in community work, while Finance Minister Markus Marterbauer said he was open to considering Mattle’s plan.

Under current rules, asylum seekers in Austria may take paid employment only after at least three months. An employer must specifically request them, no domestic worker can be available for the job, and the AMS must carry out the assessment.

Mattle said last week that people who had a legitimate reason to come to Tirol or Austria should contribute and work from day one. He argued that the state could not promote willingness to work while placing asylum seekers in basic care. He also said he was not in line with his federal party on the proposal.

Karner said more than 730,000 hours of community work had been carried out in federal care facilities since the option was established. The work, for municipalities, states and related public bodies, includes maintaining green spaces and parks. Upper Austria, Carinthia, Styria, Burgenland and Vorarlberg had used the relevant obligation, he said, while Tirol had not.

Karner argued that unrestricted access to the labour market would act as a “pull factor” for irregular migration and benefit people-smuggling networks. He said efforts to remove such factors had helped bring irregular migration close to zero.

Marterbauer said there were already ways for asylum seekers to start working “under certain conditions”. Speaking to reporters on the sidelines of a meeting of EU finance ministers in Brussels, he said he preferred people to be employed and integrated rather than “hanging around somewhere”. He said the conditions needed close examination, while adding that work and education were crucial to integration.