Refugees in Austria

http://www.dw.com/en/austria-relegates-refugees-to-tent-cities/a-18478301

I wanted to look further into the refugee situation specifically in Austria, because that is where I will be living during the coming year. According to the above article, the reception of refugees in the city of Linz has been polite, but distanced. There are tents set up for asylum-seekers to take shelter during the cold and wet spring, but no permanent housing has been offered for this group. They live completely separate from the city’s population, so it seems as if integration is being avoided in this instance. The men are given 44 euros a month, and regular (but sparse) meals. Few of them speak English or German, but only minimal effort is being put forth to teach them German. They can get worksheets upon request to improve their skills.

According to this article (http://www.dw.com/en/austrias-rapid-reversal-in-refugee-policy/a-19092684), Austria was initially in line with Angela Merkel’s open door policy concerning refugees, but has since then reversed its stance. It will only allow for 80 asylum applications per day, and a fence has been erected on the Slovenian border to deter people from entering unofficially. Austria’s move to close borders has set an example for other countries in the Balkans, stopping most refugees in Greece. With the instability of the Greek economy, it seems like this move is going to cause even more trouble for Greece and its position in the European Union. Austria has taken more asylum seekers per capita than Germany has, which may be putting pressure on the country, but shoving the burden on other countries still does not seem like a sustainable way to work through this problem.