The number of asylum applications this year is likely to reach the levels of the crisis year 2015 – the smuggling mafia is operating more brutally than ever before. Only recently was there another serious accident involving a towing vehicle in Burgenland.
The series of extremely dangerous confrontations with the henchmen of the international smuggling mafia does not end – especially not in Burgenland! On Sunday morning, there was another dramatic incident near Wallern in the Neusiedl am See district: after the driver of a minibus avoided being stopped by an army patrol, he ran off the road at breakneck speed and slammed into a tree. The record: 16 injuries, two serious. The handcuffs clicked for the smuggler.
An incident that has repeated itself almost daily in recent weeks. It almost seems as if Europe has completely lost sight of migration policy in the face of the Ukrainian war and energy crisis, the fight against climate change and the aftermath of the pandemic.
The current figures speak a clear language: in the current year almost 56,000 asylum applications were made in Austria alone – extrapolated this would have almost reached the level of 2015 (see graph below). The migratory pressure is as high as it was then – with one difference: right now people from India, Pakistan and Tunisia in particular are putting their lives in the hands of unscrupulous smuggling organizations to get into Austria. Your chances of a right of residence are almost zero.
The government is trying to counter this with an increased presence of police and army soldiers – about 400 people smugglers have been arrested since the beginning of the year – but is reaching its limits. Interior Minister Gerhard Karner again calls for asylum centers outside the EU and wants to continue the hard fight against people smugglers: “This is the only way to protect human lives.”
Source: Krone
I am Ida Scott, a journalist and content author with a passion for uncovering the truth. I have been writing professionally for Today Times Live since 2020 and specialize in political news. My career began when I was just 17; I had already developed a knack for research and an eye for detail which made me stand out from my peers.
