Asylum Policies and Protests in Austria

Abstract

With regard to mobilization in the field of migration and refugees, Austria is characterized by a strict migration regime on the one hand, and the performance of a rather moderate protest culture and low civic engagement in politics (besides electoral politics) on the other. Increasingly restrictive asylum policies date back to the 1990s, in conjunction with Austria’s altered understanding of itself as a country of destination instead of only being a country of transit. Although the idea of a merely temporary stay for migrants is deeply inscribed in the Austrian migration system, individual possibilities for gaining the right to stay have emerged for asylum seekers who have already received a negative decision. Simultaneously, the policy fields of migration and asylum have become polarized and politicized with negative overtones, especially by the Austrian Freedom Party–with a majority of the Austrian population supporting stricter immigration policies. All these aspects in the area of asylum and deportation as well as the general political culture in Austria represent institutional and discursive opportunity structures for protest, both for and against asylum seekers. Asylum protests can either occur in support of or in opposition to asylum seekers and concern the deportation, right to stay, and reception of asylum seekers. These three fields–deportation, reception, and stay–are linked to each other in the asylum process but have not been jointly examined to date. This chapter explores this constellation, thereby providing a picture of the contextual framework of protest both for and against asylum seekers in Austria.