AUSTRIAFrom a country of emigration to a country of

immigration

Reasons for migration in general

Push factors • war• persecution• discrimination• natural disasters• poverty

Pull factors• lack of workers• potential sources of income• social and political

advantages• chance to get an education• family networks

Austria – a country of emigration

• Until the end of World War II Austria used to be a country people emigrated from. In the 1920s and 1930s people emigrated from very poor areas in Austria. 70% of Austrian emigrants are from the Burgenland („Little-Burgenland in Chicago“)

World War II / Post-war period

• 1938-45 –Jews and politically persecuted people flee from Nazi-Germany into exile• 1945-50 – 10 million people in Europe are on the run• Austria is the destination for many refugees and displaced people, especially

survivors of concentration camps, people sentenced to hard labour and people of German ethnic origin living outside of Germany, who have to leave

• 1956 – rebellion of the people in Hungary: Austria grants asylum to refugees from Hungary

• 1950s to 1960s – many Austrians emigrate to Switzerland and Germany to work there

Refugees from Hungaryin Klingenbach, 1956

Austria becomes a country of immigration 1

• 1960-1968 – the first phase of migration of foreign workers to Austria• 1968 - people fight for democracy in Czechoslovakia and have to flee• 1969-1973 – due to good economical situation in Austria most migrant

workers are employed (230 000 foreign workers in Austria, especially in the building industry)

• 1981 martial law in Poland: about 150.000 Polish people flee to Austria• 1989/90 – Fall of the Iron Curtain• 1989-1993 – the highest number of migrants come to Austria due to the

wars in former Yugoslavia• 1995 Austria becomes a member of the EU

Austria becomes a country of immigration 2

• 1991-1999 – wars in former Yugoslavia (Croatia, Bosnia, Kosovo)• 1998/1999 conflict in the Kosovo ( 795 000 people on the run), 5000

refugees are taken in• 1994 – 1996 - first war in Chechnya, 1999 - 2009 second war in Chechnya, About 30 000 Chechens live in Austria• From the 1990 until now: more and more refugees in Europe due to

conflicts and wars in Africa and Asia • Since the beginning of 2000 – more and more Germans come to Austria to

study and work here• 2004 – enlargement of the EU: 10 new member states, free choice

concerning place of work and of residence• 2007 - Romania and Bulgaria become members of the EU • 2015 - 17 500 Romanian citizens emigrated to Austria

Conflicts and wars

Kosovo Chechnya

LOVE

• Let us not forget that a lot of people have decided to come to Austria or to leave Austria because of love.

• When asking our family and friends about people who migrated to other countries, we often heard of people who did not go because they HAD to leave but because they WANTED to