Austria against asylum claims from non-EU migrant centers – Kurz

Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz spoke out on Monday against giving migrants the chance to seek asylum in the EU from proposed “disembarkation platforms” outside the bloc, AFP reported. European leaders hammered out a deal in Brussels on Friday to consider setting up the centers, most likely in North Africa, in a bid to discourage migrants and refugees boarding EU-bound smuggler boats. Kurz told O1 radio: “If we allow asylum applications [from the disembarkation platforms], this will create an incredible pull factor.” Austria has just taken up the six-month rotating presidency of the EU. The chancellor said it would be “smarter to go directly to people in war zones, rather than create an incentive to undertake the dangerous crossing of the Mediterranean.”