A new report on Syrian refugees in Austria has ignited political controversy after suggesting that some migrants are deliberately failing the exam after completing German courses to avoid low-paying jobs.
The findings, published in daily Kronen Zeitung and based on the Austrian Labour Market Service’s (AMS) study, have prompted sharp criticism from opposition politicians, particularly the right-wing Freedom Party of Austria (FPÖ).
The report highlights challenges in integrating refugees into the labour market, with learning German identified as a key barrier.
One Syrian respondent—a trained pediatrician who had studied medicine in Syria and practiced in Turkey—criticised the tendency to channel Syrian women into “low-skilled jobs such as cleaners” without considering their actual qualifications.
According to the report, the respondent noted that “some people deliberately failed German courses in order to avoid such employment. A central problem in this regard is the low wages, which are not sufficient to cover the cost of living.”
While such testimony raises concerns, the AMS downplayed the extent of the issue.
“There may be the odd individual case, but this is not a noticeable trend,” the agency said, but then contradictorily stated that “sanctions are only possible if it can be clearly proven that someone intentionally sabotaged their exam result.” Determining intent, the agency noted, is virtually impossible.
According to the Austrian Integration Fund, two out of three asylum seekers and individuals with subsidiary protection require literacy training, and 44% are completely illiterate—a figure that complicates the effectiveness of German courses.
The report has drawn fierce reactions from the FPÖ. Party General Secretary Michael Schnedlitz called the AMS report a “clear proof of organised asylum fraud.”
In a strongly worded statement, he declared:
What the FPÖ has long warned about is now confirmed by the system itself: so-called ‘refugees’ are deliberately failing exams to exploit welfare benefits at the expense of Austrians. This is the peak of audacity and an insult to every hard-working citizen.
Schnedlitz further accused the governing coalition of negligence:
While ordinary Austrians are penalized for the slightest infraction, asylum cheats enjoy impunity under the black-red-pink coalition. The justification for Syrian asylum has vanished since the fall of the Assad regime—their country needs them for rebuilding, yet instead they exploit Austria’s welfare system.
The AMS, for its part, has promised to provide updated figures on how many people lost benefits due to failed language courses—though, as it told Kronen Zeitung, “statistics on benefit suspensions will not be available until next Thursday.”
