Austria carried out more than 7,000 deportations and other removals during the first half of 2026, while new asylum applications fell 44% to about 4,900 amid tighter border controls and restrictions on family reunification.
By yourNEWS Media Newsroom
Austria removed more migrants than it received new asylum applications during the first six months of 2026, marking the first time in more than 20 years that departures exceeded incoming claims, according to government figures released this month.
Approximately 4,900 asylum applications were submitted between January and June, a 44% decline from the same period in 2025, according to Kronen Zeitung. During that same six-month period, Austrian authorities carried out more than 7,000 deportations and other forms of migrant removal.
Interior Minister Gerhard Karner, a member of the Austrian People’s Party, said the figures represented a major shift in the country’s migration balance after years in which asylum claims consistently outnumbered removals.
Syrian and Afghan nationals accounted for the largest shares of new asylum applications, with each group representing roughly one-quarter of the total filed during the first half of the year.
Approval rates varied substantially by nationality. Approximately one-third of Syrian applications had been approved so far in 2026, compared with 67% two years earlier.
The Austrian government also launched a voluntary repatriation program for Syrians in June. Karner said it remained too early to determine whether the initiative would produce a significant number of returns.
Across all nationalities, 27% of asylum applications were rejected outright during the first half of 2026. Sixteen percent were granted full asylum at the initial hearing, while another 15% resulted in subsidiary protection.
Subsidiary protection is generally granted to applicants who do not qualify for full refugee status but are considered at risk of serious harm if returned to their country of origin.
Iranian applicants recorded the highest reported approval rate at 76%, followed by Afghans at 69%.
The government attributed the decline in applications and rise in removals primarily to stronger border enforcement and restrictions on family reunification.
Austria suspended refugee family reunification last year, limiting the ability of asylum recipients to bring spouses, registered partners and unmarried minor children into the country.
The government tightened the policy further last month by introducing a quota system for migrant family visas.
Officials have argued that limiting family reunification reduces incentives for additional migration and eases pressure on housing, schools, healthcare and social services.
Austria is also working with other European Union governments to establish migrant return centers in third countries. Such facilities would allow rejected asylum seekers and other migrants ordered to leave Europe to be transferred outside the bloc while repatriation arrangements are completed.
The proposal resembles the return-hub strategy long promoted by Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s government.
Austria’s policy shift accelerated after the 2024 parliamentary election, when the anti-mass migration Freedom Party of Austria won 28.8% of the vote, the strongest national result in the party’s history.
Despite finishing first, the Freedom Party was excluded from government after the Austrian People’s Party formed a coalition with the Social Democratic Party and the NEOS party.
That arrangement prevented Freedom Party leader Herbert Kickl from becoming chancellor, but his party’s electoral success increased political pressure on the governing coalition to take a stricter approach to asylum, deportation and border enforcement.
The government’s subsequent reforms have included expanded controls at the border, reduced access to family reunification and support for European return hubs outside the EU.
Kickl has continued pressing the coalition to adopt more aggressive measures.
Referring to the alleged Islamist attack in Berlin on Saturday, the Freedom Party leader called Monday for stronger security policies.
“Austria must draw the right lessons from these developments. It needs effective border protection, consistent measures against illegal migration, and a determined approach to combating radical Islam. The safety of the people must be the top priority,” Kickl said.
The first-half figures indicate that Austria’s immigration system is now removing migrants at a faster pace than it is receiving new asylum claims.
Whether that trend continues through the remainder of 2026 will depend on future migration flows, the effectiveness of border enforcement, the outcome of the Syrian repatriation program and the implementation of the new family reunification limits.
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