Anthony Lara, Sacha Arthurs
Austria
General Assembly
Improving Global Approach to Refugees
With recent conflicts on the rise, thousands of refugees across the world have been
forced to flee their country of origin in search of safety. The United Nations High Commission for
Refugees (UNHCR) is tasked with supporting and protecting the rights of refugees, and
assisting them with resettlement into new countries. Recently, the world has seen its highest
level of internally displaced people (IDPs) ever recorded as relayed by the 2015 Annual Global
Trends Report. Many migrants find themselves on dangerous treks across land and sea to seek
refuge in welcoming countries, with few of their possessions and little food or water. The
Republic of Austria agrees with U.N General Secretary Ban Ki-moon’s views on the need for
greater persistence in tackling and resolving the conflicts at the core of the refugee issue.
Austria has welcomed refugees, mostly from Hungary and Syria, with open arms and
resources that they need but desperately lack. In 2014, Austria’s Federal Minister of the Interior,
Johanna Mikl-Leitner, expanded the Austrian Humanitarian Admission Programme (HAP) from
accepting 500 to 1500 Syrian refugees. Originally, the HAP program was established to assist
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Syrian refugees in their region and aid the asylum process, and its expansion has only offered
more relief. In addition, the Republic of Austria’s Red Cross has been actively aiding incoming
IDPs. For example, it provided the large wave of Hungarian refugees in September of 2015
with medical supplies, warm blankets, food, water, and other necessities. Regarding temporary
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living situations and the asylum process, the Austrian Red-White-Red Card offers migrants who
meet work skill requirements with working and permanent living visas.
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While Austria is intent on aiding those who are unfortunately forced to flee their home in
search for safety, it recognizes that there is not an unlimited amount of resources that can be
efugees
2 http://www.cnn.com/2015/09/05/europe/europe-migrant-crisis/
3 http://www.migration.gv.at/en/