Assimilation, jobs pose challenges for immigrants to Austria

The director of the newly-established Austrian government office responsible for the integration of refugees and migrants in that country told a Sept. 16 Newsmaker audience that current immigrants are not like the earlier "guest workers" who came to the country temporarily.

"We eventually came to realize that they intend to stay," Alexander Janda, director of the Austrian Integration Fund, said. The fund is part of the Ministry of Interior and was founded by the ministry and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees.

Assimilation is a problem, according to Janda.

"Currently, 89 to 90 percent of the school age children of immigrants do not speak German," Janda said.

Employability is another challenge, he added.

"The education level of migrants in Austria depends on where they are from," he said. "That of those from other European Union countries is generally high; that of those from other countries, not so much."

In the capital of Vienna, Janda noted, more than a third of the population is foreign born.

And there is the matter of religion. Janda said there are 500,000 Muslim immigrants in Austria, a Catholic country of eight million. This is one of the highest percentages in Europe. Austria's foreign born population is 18 percent of the country's total.

Most of the imams in Austria are sent by the Turkish government, according to Janda. This situation has gotten to the point, he added, that the University of Vienna has established a Master's program for imams.

"Not to teach them how to be religious leaders," Janda said, "but to teach them about Austrian culture and traditions, including women's rights."

Austria officially recognizes Islam. Next year "will be the 100th anniversary of the country's formal recognition of the Muslim faith," Janda said. Nonetheless, "there are major debates" over this issue.