According to the Federal Criminal Police Office (BK), more than 40,000 migrants were apprehended in 2021 who had crossed the national borders illegally and sometimes with the help of smugglers, almost twice as many as in the previous year. At the same time, nearly 400 people smugglers were identified. “Smuggling is an inhuman crime and has become one of the largest branches of organized crime,” said Interior Minister Gerhard Karner (ÖVP) on Friday.
In 2020, 21,641 people who had entered or stayed illegally in Austria were apprehended, an increase of around twelve percent compared to 2019, but significantly less than in the years 2012 to 2017 with the peak in 2015, when more than 94,000 people illegally staying in Austria were apprehended. In the case of migrants, there were already 4,842 seizures compared to 2019 (2,469 seizures), almost doubling, with 311 registered smugglers, 69 more than in 2019. The number of migrants identified as being smuggled for 2021 is not yet available, it will be included in the Interior Ministry’s annual smuggled report.
BK expert Gerald Tatzgern explained the reason for the significant increase: “At the beginning of 2020 there were still 100,000 to 120,000 migrants in regions of the Western Balkans including Greece, Bulgaria and Romania. Today only 50,000 to 60,000 people stay there. Very many no longer wanted to endure the poor supply, the smugglers sensed their business.” The situation is currently volatile, according to his assessment: “If Turkey remains stable, the situation in Iran and Pakistan will not change, so a change (in migration flows) is not to be expected for that long.” But nobody can predict that. The situation is particularly unpredictable in Afghanistan, which a large part of the population would want to leave. However, the further action of the Taliban cannot be assessed.
Migrants who put themselves in the hands of gangs of smugglers take great risks. “The mode is changing,” said Tatzgern. Very young drivers are increasingly being used, with strict instructions not to get caught. At the end of October, two Syrian migrants died standing and crammed into a closed van with 27 other migrants near Siegendorf in Burgenland. The 19-year-old Latvian suspect was later arrested in his home country. On Epiphany 2022, a towed vehicle with 30 migrants raced across the border near Neckenmarkt, with Hungarian police officers on their heels, who even fired shots.
The fight against people smuggling has now been restructured in the BK. A team of around 50 investigates people smuggling, human trafficking and crimes such as visa fraud, abuse of social benefits and illegal gambling.
