Asylum seekers in Austria will have to hand over money and mobile phones as part of their asylum applications, Austria’s new coalition government has announced.
The announcement came as the conservative and far-right coalition government was sworn in yesterday.
Under the new plan, Austria will seek to stop illegal immigration and ensure that people whose applications for asylum are rejected are deported quickly.
The policy states that asylum is ‘temporary protection’ only.
The money seized will reportedly be used to cover basic care costs, and mobile phone data will be used to clarify identities.
Austria’s far-right Freedom Party secured its return to power, as the president swore in the country’s new government amid protests on the streets of Vienna.
Sebastian Kurz, of the conservative People’s Party (OVP), is now the new Austrian chancellor, after he reached a deal with the anti-immigration Freedom Party (FPO) leader Heinz-Christian Strache, the new vice-chancellor.
