This paper studies public policies, which regulate migration and (compulsory) schooling in Austria with respect to the integration of migrant children and youngsters. Our starting point is that public education is a key welfare provision, which aims to eliminate social inequality by endowing a country’s residents with necessary knowledge and skills for better prospects. Our goal is to identify structural obstacles in the way of migrant children’s integration at Austrian schools. The paper starts with a discussion on the timeliness of studying migration given the growing political crises, which have culminated, not least, in the restructuring of migration regimes around the world in the last decade. It then sets the national context of migration in Austria, which is characterized by the growing influence of right-wing populist FPÖ. Next, it provides a literature review and discusses the findings of existing research with special focus on young migrants. It then assesses, against the background of the literature review, the national legal framework with regard to laws regulating migration and schooling. In this part, we will analyze government policies and initiatives that tackle and regulate migrant children’s integration at schools in Austria. Policy analysis will be backed up with the preliminary findings of the field research conducted with experts and different stakeholders in Vienna.

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