New Delhi: After an ‘explosion’ of asylum seekers, Austria and India have signed a comprehensive migration and mobility partnership agreement that will facilitate the return of illegal migrants back to their country.
The agreement was initialled by the Austrian foreign minister Alexander Schallenberg and Indian external affairs minister S. Jaishankar in Vienna on Monday, January 2.
At the media interaction after formal talks with Jaishankar, Schallenberg said that the matter was of “strategic importance” for his country.
“Last year, we experienced the highest number ever of asylum seekers in Austria ever…over 100,000. Also, we had an exploding number of Indians coming illegally via Serbia to Austria,” he said.
From around 600 applications in 2021, the number of Indian citizens applying for asylum had “suddenly become 18,000 last year”, he said.
He added that the problem was not migration, but the issue of “illegal migration”. The Austrian minister stated that the view was that migration should be controlled by states and not by human traffickers.
In his remarks to the media, Jaishankar said that irregular movement not only enhances the vulnerability of the people involved but is inherently exploitative. “We want a fair, legal and equal opportunity to demonstrate the contributions of Indian skills and talents”.
The Indian minister noted that similar agreements have been recently concluded by India with Germany, France, Portugal, UK and Denmark, amongst others.
The Ukraine war also naturally figured in the talks, with India calling for a return to dialogue.
“Prolonged conflict will not serve the interests of any party. My Prime Minister has been in contact with the leaders of both nations, pressing our point of view in that regard. We are also increasingly anxious about the knock-on effects of the conflict in terms of accessibility and affordability of fuel, food and fertilizers. This is a growing concern for the Global South,” said Jaishankar.