Mostly Syrians, 68,800 Asylum Seekers Arrested in Austria

BY| Syrian Observe

The Austrian De Press newspaper reported that 2,500 high-priority measures had been carried out due to people smuggling and abuse of asylum since last May, during which 68,800 migrants were arrested, most of them from Syria, Afghanistan and India.
The newspaper pointed out that at the beginning of May, the Ministry of the Interior launched targeted controls against people smuggling and the abuse of asylum.
An interim report was published five months later. Since then, police have arrested 550 smugglers and more than 68,800 migrants, most of them 46,000 in the Burgenland region.
They came mainly from Syria, Afghanistan, Tunisia and Pakistan. “More than 2,500 necessary campaigns have been carried out,” the newspaper quoted Interior Minister Gerhard Karner as saying at a press conference.

The newspaper quoted the minister as saying, “The aim of this measure is (a credible asylum system). Accordingly, one wants to support those people who need our help, but it clearly shows an advantage when people take advantage of the system or even misuse it.”
“About 3,000 foreigners are picked up every week, and the average in the past few days has been consistently more than 600,” the newspaper quoted Franz Ruf, director general of public safety” he added.
Most migrants are caught in Burgenland, where 350 of the 495 border guards scattered across Austria work daily.
There are also 385 soldiers from the German Armed Forces on assistance missions. According to Rove, 54 local police officers are currently working in neighbouring Hungary, and as of October 24th, they will be there.
The number of asylum applications from people in these countries has not decreased so far.
“The campaign is one of many actions that I believe are necessary and important,” Interior Minister Gerhard Karner said Monday.
Karner added, “We should not expect success in a short time. All we have to do now is turn the wheel in this direction.” In addition, the minister said, “a set of measures have been taken to combat illegal trade, the bad branch of business, where people die almost every day.”
The De Press concluded by saying, “In general, the system has reached its limit.”