Current border situation

Hardly any apprehensions, but migration remains a hot topic

Last week, 21 migrants were apprehended in Burgenland. That is as many as in the summer of 2023, often every two to five hours.

(Bild: Schulter Christian)

The number of migrants apprehended in Burgenland is currently lower than it has been for a long time. "It's not the winter," says the provincial police directorate. The smuggling mafia has changed its strategy.

In addition, the SPÖ demand by Governor Hans Peter Doskozil for an upper limit on asylum applications and basic care is once again fueling the debate about the refugee situation.

21 migrants have been reported in the past week. This is the number of refugees that often had to be looked after and registered every two to five hours last summer. The long-lasting influx came to an abrupt halt at the beginning of November. "In the past quarter, just under 100 arrivals per month were recorded", according to the state police directorate.

Brutal "business model"
However, the cold season is not the decisive factor here. "Smuggling is a 'business model' of organized crime that is carried out completely independently of the prevailing temperatures," says the Eisenstadt police. The drastic decline in apprehensions is primarily a consequence of the change in smuggling tactics.

Smuggling is a 'business model' of organized crime that is implemented completely independently of the prevailing temperatures.

Landespolizeidirektion Eisenstadt

Smugglers are evading
As reported, migration routes have shifted. Police operations due to illegal refugee transports can now be heard more frequently from Styria or Carinthia. Not a single smuggler has been caught in Burgenland so far in 2024, as the smuggling gangs are giving Austria's easternmost province a wide berth.

According to the provincial police directorate, the most important reasons for this are the end of visa-free travel for Indians and Tunisians in Serbia, the successful cross-border Operation Fox with a steady stream of smuggler arrests in Hungary and consistent border controls. In addition, there are also priority actions at the external borders, international investigations and improvements in the exchange of information in real time after apprehensions.

Debate on asylum applications
Although the situation at the border with Hungary, which was extremely tense until recently, has calmed down after years, migration remains the second most important issue for the population after inflation, as current surveys show. Building on the SPÖ position paper "Flight-Asylum-Migration-Integration" from 2018, Governor Hans Peter Doskozil reiterated his demand to the federal government for an upper limit on asylum applications and basic services.

"Doskozil likes to see himself as the opposition to the federal government. When I called for an upper limit of 10,000 asylum applications last year, the SPÖ remained silent," said ÖVP state chairman Christian Sagartz in response to the debate.