Lower Austria to close three more asylum accommodations

Lower Austria will close three more asylum accommodations in St. Pölten, Bruck an der Leitha and Schottwien in the Neunkirchen district, ORF reported. Between 20 and 30 residents are affected, according to APA research.

FPÖ state councillor Martin Antauer said protecting the population remained the priority and that Lower Austria should become as unattractive as possible as a location for asylum accommodation.

An accommodation in Mitterndorf, in the municipality of Michelhausen in the Tulln district, was already closed on August 31. Its 11 residents were relocated.

Antauer’s office said Lower Austria currently had around 360 asylum accommodations. At the end of August, 5,900 people were receiving basic support in the province, compared with 7,900 a year earlier.

Debate over sanctions

People receiving basic support are also expected to sign an integration code presented by Antauer in May, Deputy Governor Udo Landbauer of the FPÖ said in an interview with ORF Lower Austria earlier this week.

Landbauer has said violations could lead to reduced basic-support payments and, as a last resort in repeated cases, exclusion from the system.

Experts agree that payments can be reduced but are divided over whether such sanctions would be appropriate. Andreas Achrainer, managing director of the Federal Agency for Care and Support Services, said sanctions could not reduce payments to zero because basic needs, including food and accommodation, had to remain covered.