THE NEW AUSTRIAN RESIDENCY ACT
On July 1, 1993 a new Resisdency act came into effect in Austria. A month later, it is becoming more then clear which groups of non-nationals will be effected most adversly by the new law. Ostensibly passed to facilitate the immigration of up to 20.000 "guest workers" per year along the lines of the government's policy of "compensatory migration", the Residency Act is now mainly being used to get rid of newly unemployed non-nationals and their families.
What the Act claims to achieve
According to the new Residency Act, any non-national wishing to immigrate to Austria must apply in his or her native country. (Citizens of the upcoming European Economic Area (EEA), consisting of all EC and EFTA states with the exception of Switzerland, are excluded from the law, they enjoying the right (sic) to work, study, and live in Austria as soon as the EEA takes effect.)
The Social Attache at the respective Austrian Embassy then checks if there is a need for additional labor in the particular industry and province in which the applicant wishes to work. The availability of housing is also taken into consideration. If work and housing are available and the annual quota has not yet been filled, the applicant is given a one year work permit and residency visa which allows her or him to enter Austria as a "guest worker". Any non-EEA nationals entering the country on a student or tourist visa, or who apply for asylum, may not convert their status while in Austria into that of a "guest worker". Seasonal workers in the tourism, agricultural, and construction industries do not recieve the status of "guest workers".
The Ministries of Social Affairs, the Interior, and education (all headed by Social Democrats) hope hereby to "compensate" any lack of manpower arising in the coming years and to direct the applicant workers to the industry and locality in which they are most needed. At th same time they hope to strictly limit the number of immigrants to the very minimum needed, which, in effect, should reduce the demands on the now overburdenend state social welfare and educational systems. Th policy of "compensatory migration" was developed in the late 80's by a group of Viennese social scientists close to the Social Democratic Minister of the Interior, Franz Löschnak, and now enjoys great popularity among trade union leaders, the university establishment, and large sections of the Social Democratic and Green parties.
The effect of the Residency Act to date
Far from merely limiting and directing the flow of legal immigration to Austria, the residency Act is now beingused to ride the country of unwanted "guest workers" who have, according to the government, overstayed their welcome. Paragraph 8 of the new law allows the Austria officials not only to periodically check the availability of housing and work for prospective immigrants but also to assess the incomes and housing conditions of those "guest workers" already legally in the country prior to the date on which the law wentinto effect (July 1, 1993). The impact of this policy has been tragic. Within days after the new Residency Act had become law the first case of pending deportation were documented. "Guest workers" whose incomes or housing conditions are under a federally determined "regional norm" must be deported. This is approximated to effect over 100.000 non-nationals living leagally in Austria. That hundreds of thousands of Austrian citizens also live under the "regional norms", seems to have no bearing on the implementation of the law.
The logic behind this hard hearted policy seems to be Austria's planned membership in the upcoming EEA. Whereas, on the whole, the percentage of non-EEA citizens in the other member states tends to vary vary between 30% and 60%, EEA nationals make up only 7% of Austria's "guest worker" population. The non-EEA ppulation of Austria is made up largely of Serbs, Bosnians, Turks, Croats, and Kurds. The EEA nationals originate mainly from bordering Bavaria and South Tyrol. By reducing the present largely Moslem and eastern Orthodox immigrant populations, the Austrian authorities will make room for more "culturally acceptable" nationalities, such as the Spanish and Italians. The Social democratic Minister of Social Affairs, Josef hesoun, hopes to reduce the non-EEA population by 20% by the time the EC-EFTA fusion is implemented, sometime later this year.
Opposition remains limited
To date, only the Greens and a limited number of trade union functionaries have signaled any opposition to the weeding out of the immigarnt population. Because it is almost impossible for "guest workers" to recieve Austrian citizenship, second and third generation immigarnts retain the nationality of their parents and grandparents. According to the Austrian Labour Councils Act, non-nationals are forbidden to become shop stewards. The immigrant communities are herby robbe of any political or trade union clout they could have under more democratic circumstances.
The city of Salzburg has proven to be the one exception to the rule. Ther residency Act requires the governors (Landeshauptmann) to of the respective provinces to assess the quality of life of their immigarnt communities and to deport those individuals not up to par. Most governors have delegated this unpleasant task to the district authorities. In the case of the city of Salzburg, Johann Padutsch, the deputy mayor responsible for immigration related affairs is a leading member of the Green party. He has publically announce that his office will refuse to deport any non-nationals threatened by the new Residency Act and, if necessary, take the matter to the European Court of Justice.
With the federal government, the trade unions, and academia against him, Padutsch's attempt at countering the inherently racist logic of "compensatory migration" policy might seem to have little chance of success. In the past, however, social reform movements in Austria have then overcome overwhelming odds when they accompanied their domestic activities with an attempt to "internationalize" their cause. The upcoming court case initiated by Salzburg's deputy mayor Padutsch could achieve just that. Austria's role as an effective watch dog state on the outer border of "Fortress Western-Europe" could thereby become an international test case of the "sub-continents" willingness to extend its own civil rights code to include non-EEA citizens, who today make up over 12 million inhabitants within the European Economic Area.
Eugene Sensenig, Salzburg