EU court tells Austria to pay refugees equally

The European Court of Justice (ECJ) ordered Austria to roll back regulations on Wednesday that saw refugees given markedly less social assistance than native-born Austrians.

The ECJ ruled that the Austrian measure from 2015 was not compatible with EU directives on the recognition of "third-party" nationals – i.e., non-Austrians and non-EU citizens.

Upper Austria province had asked the court whether it was allowed to give refugees with temporary status limited assistance.

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Vienna has introduced a number of measures limiting the rights of refugees in recent months. The coalition government of Chancellor Sebastian Kurz's conservative People's Party (ÖVP) and the right-wing Freedom Party (FPÖ) have detailed a number of initiatives under their "New Justice" policy plan that are aimed at privileging native-born Austrians.

 Amongst the new curbs on refugees is reduced access to German courses and apprenticeship programs as well as a controversial rule that asks migrants to turn over their cell phones and valuables at the border. 

es/ncy (dpa, KNA)

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