AUSTRIA PROPOSES TOUGHER ASYLUM LAWS

Austria's Council of Ministers, the cabinet, on Tuesday proposed tougher laws to regulate the approval of asylum seeker status. The proposed laws will need parliamentary approval before they become effective.

The proposed laws will affect all asylum cases that have been approved since mid-November 2015, with each individual case to come under review after three years to determine whether the protection granted by Austria is still warranted.

Under the proposed laws, those who have been granted asylum have to make an application within three months if they want to bring their families to Austria, without having to meet additional financial obligations.

Austrian Chancellor Werner Faymann said the proposed measures would help the government to limit its intake of asylum seekers in 2016 to the country's planned figure of 37,500.