Do factors such as access to the labor market or the size of the social system influence how many asylum applications a country receives in the EU? To this end, “Die Presse” evaluates data – and provides answers.
What is the purpose of those “ugly images” on the borders of the EU that Sebastian Kurz (ÖVP) considered unavoidable a year after the great migration of people in 2015? The foreign minister at the time and later Federal Chancellor was the most prominent supporter of the theory that the relative attractiveness of a destination is decisive for how many refugees and migrants want to enter there. According to this, the number of newcomers can only be throttled if what are known as “pull factors” are reduced.
According to this calculation, an easily traversable border section can be an attraction – hence the offensive sealing of the EU’s external border as an antidote. As for the destination countries themselves, generous social benefits, access to the labor market and citizenship are all pull factors that can be curbed in order to manage migration.