Austria’s parliament has passed tough new asylum measures, including a process under which migrants could be turned away at the border within an hour, which could be activated if lawmakers decree public order is threatened.
Austria has mostly served as a conduit into Germany for refugees and migrants from the Middle East and Africa but it has also absorbed around 100,000 asylum-seekers since last summer.
After initially welcoming refugees, the government capped the number of asylum claims it would accept this year to 37,500.
It has received more than 16,000 claims since the beginning of the year.
Austria has also been imposing restrictions on movement, including co-ordinating border closures with nearby Balkan countries over the past months, which has led to thousands of people being stuck in Greece.
While Austria’s approach has angered other European Union states, Vienna says this is necessary to safeguard public order.
To make use of the new measures, the government will require parliament to confirm that public order and security are under threat.
Under a clause that then becomes active, asylum will only be granted to people who are likely to suffer persecution if they are sent back to the country they come from and refugees who already have close family members living in Austria.
Chancellor Werner Faymann, whose ruling coalition was dumped out of the race for the presidency at the weekend by the far-right and an independent candidate, defended the stricter rules against criticism in parliament, including from his own party, and from other European countries.
Security and asylum questions cannot be solved by Austria alone but needed international engagement, Faymann said, adding that he had to ensure Austrians feel safe.
The hotly-disputed bill was by 98 votes to 67.
Opposition parties and rights groups have slammed the legislation, with the UN’s refugee agency warning that it “removes a centrepiece of refugee protection”.
But Interior Minister Wolfgang Sobotka insisted Austria had no other choice as long as “so many other European Union members fail to do their part” to stop the influx.
“We cannot shoulder the whole world’s burden,” he said.
Defence Minister Hans Peter Doskozil said in March when he introduced the planned measures that migrants would only be able to file their application for asylum directly at border crossings in the future and not any longer at police stations.
A decision on whether to grant asylum would be made within an hour and those not accepted would be sent back immediately.
The activated clause would be valid for up to six months and could be extended by parliament for a maximum of three times.
Starting from last November, Austria will only grant asylum for a period of three years.
The restrictions are similar to tough rules introduced by the right-wing government in neighbouring Hungary last year.
“These are extremely dangerous tools that are being sharpened here, especially if they fall into the wrong hands,” said the leader of the small NEOS opposition party, Mathias Strolz.
Shortly before the vote, a group of protesters threw leaflets from the parliament’s upper gallery reading “Don’t walk over dead bodies, it won’t keep you afloat”.
The vote comes after the candidate of the far-right Freedom Party (FPOe), Norbert Hofer, sent shock waves through the political establishment by winning the first round of the presidential election on Sunday.
The two candidates of the ruling centrist coalition failed to even make it into the runoff on May 22.
The FPOe also looks set to do well in the next scheduled general election in 2018.