The right-wing government of Austria has decided to say no to signing the United Nation’s Global Compact on Migration which was to create global regulations on the treatment of migrants and refugees.
Austria is following the United States and Hungary over concerns that it would “blur the line between legal and illegal migration”. The decision has been heavily criticized both internationally and within Austria. The Austrian Union of Construction and Wood Workers (GBH) has sent an open letter to protest the decision by the government.
“On this issue, the Federal Government is acting out of pure populism which is based on false information and is against the interests of Austria,” writes Josef Muchitsch, president of the GBH and member of the BWI World Council, in the letter.