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Human rights groups hit out at Austria Tuesday over proposed legislation aimed at cracking down on refugees.
Under changes proposed by the cabinet, refugees may only be granted temporary asylum for three years. After the three-year period, refugees could be deported back to their homelands if the Austrian government believes conditions have improved.
The government says the new legislation would specifically target Afghans, the second largest group of asylum seekers arriving in Austria.
Under the proposal, Afghans would be unable to bring family members to Austria for the first three years.
The measures would only apply to asylum seekers granted temporary protection, not those given full political asylum.
The proposal is now set to be discussed by parliament, and is unlikely to be voted on until December. However, some of the measures could be implemented as early as mid-November.
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The United Nations refugee agency, the UNHCR, quickly condemned the proposal. Christoph Pinter, head of UNHCR Austria warned the measures would exacerbate the suffering of refugees, and lead to greater uncertainty for Afghans fleeing violence and political instability.
“If legal ways (to migrate) are being shut off, people will use traffickers and take larger risks than was the case up to now in order to rejoin their family and live with them in safety," Pinter told Reuters.
Global refugee levels are now at their highest point since the aftermath of World War II, and European nations have been divided over how to handle the influx of refugees and migrants.
The United Nations said in September that it expected more than 850,000 people to arrive to Europe in 2016, meaning that the number of refugees in Europe will soon reach millions.
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