Gerhard Karner (ÖVP): “The tragic death of three people today at the Kittsee/Jarovce border crossing shows once again the brutality and unscrupulousness of the smuggling mafia.”
Interior Minister Gerhard Karner (ÖVP) sharply criticized the actions of the smugglers after the accident of a smuggler vehicle with three dead and several seriously injured on Saturday in Burgenland. “The tragic death of three people today at the Kittsee/Jarovce border crossing shows once again the brutality and unscrupulousness of the smuggling mafia,” he said in a broadcast. Resolute action must continue to be taken, he stressed.
People are “lured with completely false promises and are risking their lives in the process,” said the interior minister. “As today’s incident shows once again, people’s lives don’t count for the smuggling mafia – their deaths are simply accepted.” “Resolute action against people smugglers and illegal migration means protecting human life,” the minister said with conviction. “The measures to combat the inhuman trafficking crime must therefore be consistently continued.”
330 traffickers arrested
By August 12, 2022, almost 330 people smugglers had already been arrested this year, the department head referred to the data. Compared to the same period last year, this means an increase of 80 arrests.
According to Karner, there are currently armed clashes between rival gangs of traffickers and smugglers on the Hungarian-Serbian border. At the end of July, the Austrian contingent on the Hungarian-Serbian border was increased to 55 police officers, and thermal imaging cameras and drones are also in use there.
“Task Force” with Hungary and Serbia
Karner also referred to the international cooperation: A “task force” of investigators from Hungary, Serbia and Austria has already been set up, and a first “investigator conference” has already been held.
According to Karner, cooperation with Hungary is to start in September in training the border police stationed there. And only “a few days ago” a video conference was held with the chief of the Montenegrin police force by the Austrian Director General for Public Safety, Franz Ruf. Cooperation in the training of drone operators for border surveillance is also planned here.
In addition, the Interior Ministry reported that Karner will meet with the new EU return coordinator Mari Juritsch on Tuesday in Vienna. Juritsch should therefore coordinate stronger cooperation between the member states and support the countries in setting up and expanding return systems. A “return network” is planned, the members of which will meet for the first time in September. The aim is to increase the number of returns from Europe to the migrants’ countries of origin.
Karner will then travel to Copenhagen on Wednesday, where a meeting with the Danish Minister for Immigration and Integration, Kaare Dybvad Bek, is planned. It should be about consultations on the asylum and migration pact of the EU, return cooperation with the countries of origin and asylum procedures in third countries.
“A credible asylum policy is inseparably linked to a consistent return system. Those who are not granted asylum must return to their home country. Close agreements are needed between the European member states and clear messages to the countries of origin and transit to consistently combat human smuggling,” he said Karner.
The minister also referred to systems in other countries: “Denmark and Great Britain rely on asylum procedures in third countries. Such an approach would deal a serious blow to people smuggling. We should therefore also use the experiences of these two countries for the other EU countries.”
According to the latest data (already published at the end of July), 31,050 migrants applied for asylum in Austria in the first half of the year. Most of these were migrants from Afghanistan (7325), followed by Syria (6680), Tunisia (3810), Pakistan (3110) and India (2025).
Burgenland’s SPÖ calls for a “crisis summit”
Meanwhile, the Burgenland SPÖ security spokesman Ewald Schnecker called for a “crisis summit” via broadcast. It was “incredibly sad what happened at the border today”, the sympathy applies “to the victims of this criminal smuggling mafia, which must be stopped as soon as possible”. The Minister of the Interior was now called upon to “finally convene a crisis summit against this inhumane criminal trafficking crime in order to finally get down to business”. He, too, considers processing centers outside of Europe to be a solution, and they must be set up “as soon as possible”. “That would take away the business model from smugglers and save people from dangerous escape routes.”
FPÖ security spokesman Hannes Amesbauer attributes the tragic accident to the “total failure of the federal government and above all of ÖVP Interior Minister Karner”. “Instead of fighting the people smugglers with effective measures, there are only strong words from him,” criticized Amesbauer in a broadcast and called for an asylum freeze. A “consistent no-way policy” would also send out the signal that trying to get to Austria illegally makes no sense and would thus also destroy the business concept of the smugglers, according to Amesbauer.
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