Excerpt:
Integration Minister Sebastian Kurz has criticised the fact that some courses for refugees at the AMS employment service have been designed so that men and women can attend them separately.
The courses are designed to determine what skills asylum seekers have and are held in their mother tongues - mostly Russian, French, Arabic and Farsi. Whilst the courses for Russian and French speakers are mixed gender, the Arabic and Farsi courses have been split into one for men and one for women.
Kurz said that whilst the competency checks are "meaningful and positive" it is a "big mistake" and "absurd" to separate men and women from Middle Eastern countries. He added that the move goes against Austria's fundamental values and sends the wrong message to refugees.