Austria has announced that they will withdraw from the UN treaty on migration, the Global Compact for Migration, as the government in Austria wishes to keep the national sovereignty of immigration politics.
Regarding the treaty, the UN has stated that mass immigration is «inevitable, necessary, and wanted». The treaty implies that the countries accepting it, open new legal ways to migrants who are not refugees. Last Wednesday, Austria’s conservative government delivered a blunt message; they will not sign the treaty.
The Austrian newspaper Kronen Zeitung report that the Austrian government regards 17 out of the 23 objectives defined in the treaty as unacceptable. In a statement, the government says that they are «seriously concerned about the content and the objective of the UN migration treaty».
– We regard several of the sections in this treaty as extremely criticisable. Consequently, we will do all to maintain the sovereignty of our country, and assure that we as the Republic of Austria can ourselves decide on immigration matters, the Chancellor, Sebastian Kurz, said earlier last month.
His coalition partner, Heinz-Christian Strache, the leader of the Freedom Party, grossly criticised the treaty when he gave the reasons for the decision of the government.
– Migration is not, and cannot be, a human right. Consequently, legal migration must be treated differently from illegal migration, he said.
Both the USA and Hungary have already resigned from the treaty. The Polish Home Office has warned that the treaty threatens the security of the country, and Australian authorities have announced their strong scepticism regarding the treaty. The Australian Minister of Internal Affairs, Peter Dutton, has said that the treaty is unacceptable in its present state.
In Norway, FrP has said that they oppose the treaty. Resett has on several occasions asked other parties to state their view, but as of yet, no answer is obtained.
Translated to English by Lars Hoem