REPORT BY THE MIGRATION COUNCIL MIGRATION COUNCIL FOR AUSTRIA UNDERSTANDING MIGRATION – MANAGING MIGRATION REPORT BY THE MIGRATION COUNCIL MIGRATION COUNCIL FOR AUSTRIA UNDERSTANDING MIGRATION – MANAGING MIGRATION IMPRINT Media owner and publisher: Migration Council for Austria Editorial responsibility: Austrian Federal Ministry of the Interior Herrengasse 7, A-1010 Vienna Diagrams and layout: Infografiken.com, Hinterland | Büro für visuelle Kommunikation Kirchstraße 5, D-88079 Kressbronn Printed by: “agensketterl” Druckerei GmbH Druckhausstraße 1, A-2540 Bad Vöslau © 2016 While every caution has been taken to provide accurate and correct information, neither the authors of this publication nor the Austrian Federal Ministry of the Interior assume any liability for any errors or emissions. 2 TABLE OF CONTENTS 4 FOREWORD 7 INTRODUCTION 7 Understanding migration 10 Current Situation 13 KEY MESSAGES OF THE REPORT 13 Managing migration – Migration policy guidelines 17 MIGRATION FACTS AND FIGURES 17 Components of immigration 20 Structural characteristics of the immigrant population 25 FUTURE SCENARIOS 2030 27 Scenario 1: Austria with a restrictive migration policy in a Europe of nation states 27 Scenario 2: Austria with a proactive migration policy in a two-speed Europe 28 Scenario 3: Austria with a tentative migration policy in an ageing Europe 29 THE 10 PARTS OF THE REPORT 29 01 | DEMOGRAPHIC DEVELOPMENTS AND CHANGES IN SOCIETY 33 02 | DIVERSITY 37 03 | EDUCATION AND RESEARCH 43 04 | ECONOMY AND INFRASTRUCTURE 47 05 | LABOUR AND SOCIAL AFFAIRS 51 06 | HEALTH AND HEALTH CARE 55 07 | POLITICAL SYSTEM AND MEDIA 59 08 | PUBLIC SECURITY AND STATE INSTITUTIONS 65 09 | PERSPECTIVES OF MIGRATION IN THE REGIONS OF ORIGIN 71 10 | CONFIGURATION OF THE MIGRATION SYSTEM IN AUSTRIA 77 THE MEMBERS OF THE MIGRATION COUNCIL 87 GLOSSARY 91 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS 3 FOREWORD Acceptance by the population is the prerequisite strength of industry and research is to be main- for a successful national migration policy. This tained and if the demand for skilled labour in democratic approach to migration has deter- Austria is to be adequately met, incentives have mined the agenda of the Migration Council from to be created for quality-based and qualification- the beginning of its activity. The developments in oriented migration. With this goal in mind, the the field of migration at national, European and Migration Council has devised a range of possible international level have been found to be of strategic approaches. On the other hand, it must crucial importance for the future of Austria. It is be recognised that migration represents a burden therefore not surprising that the further develop- for the systems of the state and can even present ment of the national migration strategy was a risk for security, stability and prosperity. The incorporated into the current programme of work Migration Council has drafted recommendations, of the Federal Government. In April 2014 – at a especially targeting the political system, the time when the refugee crisis had not yet reached media, public security and state-run institutions, a level of visibility that would have caught the showing how to shoulder the burden and coun- public’s attention – Johanna Mikl-Leitner, then teract the risks. Minister of the Interior, established the “Migra- tion Council for Austria” as an independent body In a time of global challenges and global respon- not bound by instructions. The mandate given to sibility, these seemingly conflicting positions for the Council was to elabo rate substantive founda- and against migration represent an inseparable tions for a national migration strategy. As a first complementarity. To preserve the economic step, the Migration Council for Austria defined strength of the democratic state under the rule of the target that was to serve as the basis and the law and to safeguard its resilience in the event of focal point of its entire work: Austria should re - a crisis, qualification-oriented migration, as a main a secure and stable state in which people valuable input factor for the economy, has to be can live in prosperity. increased. It takes a strong and stable political structure to assume global responsibility and This objective clearly reflects the intention of the provide humanitarian assistance for those most Migration Council for Austria: Austrian migration in need of protection and to do so on a long-term policy has to focus clearly on Austria’s interests, basis. though not without safeguarding the interests of the regions of origin. In the elaboration of for- This concluding report is structured as follows: ward-looking recommendations, the Council was The introduction and the summary of the study confronted with the task of summarising the on “Future Migration Scenarios for 2030” by the po­­sitions in favour and against migration in a Centre for Future Studies of the Salzburg Univer- meaningful way and developing a reasonable sity of Applied Sciences, which the Migration approach well suited to mediate between con- Council used as a basis for the discussion of its flicting interests. On the one hand, migration recommendations, is followed by a presentation contributes substantially to the preservation of of facts. These illustrate the contribution that security, stability and prosperity. If the innovative migration can and should make to the economy, 4 the labour market, education and research, and unpopular, as they do not promise instant suc- – especially in view of demographic develop- cess that can be achieved overnight, taking a ments – to health care and the social sector. The long-term view of migration is the only way to subsequent section of the report describes the set the course for achieving the long-term target: conditions under which political and state-run preserving Austria as a secure and stable state institutions operate and highlights the need for where people can live in prosperity. migration to be governed by a clear regulatory regime, which also needs to be implemented in The mandate of the Migration Council for Austria practice. Next, the interests of the regions of ends with the presentation of this concluding origin and possible perspectives for a migration report to Wolfgang Sobotka, the Federal Minister policy aimed at strengthening these regions in a of the Interior. The authors hope that the Ministry sustainable way are outlined. Finally, on the basis of the Interior will develop a national migration of these findings, conclusions are drawn regar- strategy for the Federal Government on the basis ding the design of a future migration system. of the recommendations of this report. As far as I am concerned, the productive work of the Migra- From the very beginning, the Migration Council tion Council in recent years has shown that an attempted to take a comprehensive and interdis- institutionalised body of experts, set up to advise ciplinary approach, and set itself the goal of the Federal Minister of the Interior on migration taking all forms of migration – legal and irregular issues, is a meaningful option for the future. migration as well as asylum – adequately into account. The refugee crisis, which hit Europe towards the end of 2014 and reached a peak in the autumn of 2015, was included in the consid- erations of the Council, whose work had started long before that time. However, it was the Coun- cil’s conscious decision not to focus primarily on PROF. PAUL LENDVAI the refugee crisis. Its mandate was not to present Chairman of the Migration Council for Austria an asylum report that marginally covers other Vienna, December 2016 forms of migration as well, but to elaborate a comprehensive migration report. Nor was the Migration Council called upon to comment on current affairs or to get involved in such discussions. Based on the status quo, it was expected to issue well-founded recommen- dations with a special focus on the long-term perspective – particularly with regard to the country’s responsibility vis-à-vis the regions of origin. Although long-term targets tend to be 5 6 INTRODUCTION UNDERSTANDING The causes of migration are varied. They range MIGRATION from war and persecution in the country of origin to the absence of prospects of education and FUNDAMENTAL REFLECTIONS employment or the desire for better living condi- tions. The criteria for migration decisions include The Migration Council deals with cross-border risks and opportunities for the family, language migration of persons living or working tempo- skills, an ethnic community already settled in the rarily or permanently in a state other than their country of destination, the economic situation in own. potential regions of destination, and the possibili- ty of finding a job in the near future. Europe and Migration is a many-faceted phenomenon that Austria are confronted with mixed migration occurs in various forms, such as legal migration, flows. irregular migration and international protection (asylum, subsidiary protection). Despite these differences, there are considerable overlaps, close relations and mutual interactions between these forms of migration. Asylum Irregular migration Legal migration 7 Introduction REASONS FOR MIGRATION CONSIDERATIONS CHOICE OF DESTINATION COUNTRY – Precarious safety – Family / friends in – Persecution – Possibility of destination country – No labour market residence permit – Job prospects perspective – Labour market – Image of destination – Better living conditions perspectives country – Training – Chance of asylum – Identification with – Social marginalisation – Possibilities of destination country – Adventure / Travel irregular migration – Language skills The individual stages of the migration have already gone through the process of cross- process include border migration and are in the first phase of a • the decision to emigrate taken longer stay in their destination country are also in the country of origin, regarded as migrants. The definition of migrant • the migration, and only applies to people who emigrated from • the phase of arrival and the initial abroad (“first generation”), but not the children period spent in the country of destination. of immigrants born in Austria (“second genera- tion”).