[JURIST] Austria’s cabinet on Tuesday introduced a new bill to deter Afghan migrants from seeking asylum in the country. Under current Austrian laws, Afghan migrants may bring their family into Austria after waiting one year. The new bill will extend that one-year period [Reuters report] to three years in attempt to deter the overwhelmingly large flow of Afghan migrants. It is reported that the bill has been heavily criticized by the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNCHR) [official website], which believes that the law would increase migrant suffering and hinder integration. Despite the criticism, Austria, along with fellow UN nation Germany, believe they must do something to control the rapid influx of new migrants who are entering their countries. Statistics have shown that Afghans have made up 10,500 of the 46,000 asylum applications Austria has received since the beginning of the year.

The rights of migrant populations has emerged as one of the most significant humanitarian issue around the world, as millions seek asylum from conflict nations. In September UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein gave the opening statement [JURIST report] at the 30th session of the Human Rights Council in which he addressed, among other pressing human rights issues, the migrant crisis. In his statement, he commended the efforts of ordinary citizens in Austria, Belgium, Finland, Germany, Sweden and the UK who have opened their homes to refugees and have galvanized politically to help with the crisis. Also in September Germany announced that it was invoking temporary border controls [JURIST report] at the nation’s southern border with Austria, after thousands of immigrants entered the country. Also that month the Hungarian National Assembly passed a number of emergency measures [JURIST report] to address the recent mass migration into Europe. In August the International Organization for Migration reported that more than 2,000 migrants have died [JURIST report] this year in an attempt to enter Europe through the Mediterranean Sea.