Citation: Ataç I., Schütze T. (2020) Crackdown or Symbolism? An Analysis of Post-2015 Policy Responses Towards Rejected Asylum Seekers in Austria. In: Spencer S., Triandafyllidou A. (eds) Migrants with Irregular Status in Europe. IMISCOE Research Series. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-34324-8_7
Abstract: This chapter explores the policy responses of the federal government in Austria regarding non-removed rejected asylum seekers after the country served as both a transit and a host country in 2015 to an increasing number of asylum seekers. Shortly after the summer of 2015, non-removed rejected asylum seekers moved to the centre of political debates. The federal government introduced a series of restrictive policy responses that sought to deter these individuals from staying, while simultaneously trying to gain control over them through various punitive measures, including confinement. These substantive measures were accompanied by several symbolic policies that aimed to demonstrate the government’s tough approach to rejected asylum seekers to the electorate. Based on a qualitative content analysis of parliamentary documents and media coverage of policy responses addressing this group of irregular migrants, we show how this mix of symbolic and substantive policy responses emerged and discuss factors that stimulated this policy strategy.
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