Migrants in Austria will be held in disused barracks and subjected to curfews in order to restore ‘order’, under proposals announced by the country’s far-right deputy leader.
Heinz-Christian Strache said that the plan should be introduced amongst a raft of drastic measures, such as taking money and mobile phones from new arrivals, to combat Europe’s ‘open’ migration policy.
The highly controversial proposal was unveiled just weeks after his Freedom Party (FPO) was sworn into power alongside the leading Conservatives as part of an anti-immigrant coalition government.
Migrants in Austria will be held in disused barracks and subjected to curfews in order to restore ‘order’, under proposals announced by the country’s far-right deputy leader Heinz-Christian Strache (pictured)
Mr Strache, who has repeatedly batted away accusations of fascism despite his party being founded by former Nazis, wants the government to usurp charities to take control of asylum issues.
Under the plan, he said that asylum seekers in Austria could be sent to live in ‘underutilised’ barracks and told to return to the building at a specified time every evening.
‘Order is needed, as long as there is an open asylum procedure,’ he said, announcing the plan.
But the call provoked fury from rival politicians who said that the policy amounted to internment whereby migrants are ‘locked away’ and denied the chance to ‘stand on their own two feet’.
Jürgen Czernohorszky, from the opposing social democrats, described Mr Strache as ‘inhuman’.
The FPO has been given control of Austria’s interior, defence and foreign ministries under the coalition agreement with new chancellor Sebastian Kurz, the world’s youngest elected leader.
Under the plan, he said that asylum seekers in Austria could be sent to live in ‘underutilised’ barracks and told to return to the building at a specified time every evening
Mr Kurz’s People’s Party came on top with 32 per cent of votes in the October poll, while Mr Strache’s far-right party finished in third place after boosting its vote share to 26 per cent.
Despite raising eyebrows across Europe with the decision to enter an agreement with the FPO, Mr Kurz has vowed to commit to hard-line election promises on migration and asylum.
In a 182-page coalition agreement, the two parties said they would take money from new asylum seekers which would be used to cover the initial costs of care.
The FPO has been given control of Austria’s interior, defence and foreign ministries under the coalition agreement with new chancellor Sebastian Kurz (pictured), the world’s youngest elected leader.
Mobile phones belonging to migrants would also be seized so that that data contained on the devices could be used to determine their identity and route into Europe.
The measures also outline how benefits and payments offered to new arrivals will be cut, while they will be barred from accessing many social services during their first five years.
Despite promising to appease Brussels by maintaining a ‘pro-EU’ agenda, the coalition has also sought to win over voters by ‘fighting political Islam’.
Mr Kurz yesterday denied that he would captitalise on the growing East-West split over EU migration policy by siding with countries such as Poland and Hungary who have promised to oppose Brussels.