Austria Arrested 712 People Smugglers and Carried Out 13,000 Deportations in 2022, Report Shows

According to the report, the country’s authorities arrested a total of 712 people smugglers and carried out around 13,000 deportations in 2022, representing an “impressive performance”, AtoZSerwisPlus.com reports.

“The review of the smuggling situation in 2022 is actually a performance record of the police in the fight against the brutal smuggling crime and explains the challenges the police were confronted with last year,” Karner said, commenting on the figures.

Moreover, during the smuggling status report that took place on April 25, 2023, in Vienna, Karner noted that the number of people smugglers that got arrested by the country’s police increased by 62 per cent compared to 2021 when there were 441 arrests.

The same explained that the majority of people smugglers who were arrested in 2022 frequented some common routes and, at the same time, stressed that smuggling activities can be disrupted by only cooperating with other partners.

“The decisive factor in police investigative work in the fight against people smugglers is international cooperation. Austria has taken on a pioneering role here. With the establishment of the Joint Operation Office in 2016, investigators from all over Europe are coming to Austria,” Karner stated.

In addition to the above-mentioned, Karner said that the country would continue to focus on protecting its borders, especially with Hungary and Serbia, in order to combat the smuggling mafia. The same said that the authorities would also increase the use of technology in protecting the borders.

As for deportations and asylum decisions, Karner revealed that last year about 13,000 people were deported from the country and about 30,000 negative decisions were made.

Furthermore, Karner disclosed that in 2022 about 42,000 people escaped the asylum procedures and travellers to another country or returned to their country of origin.

“In 2022, around 30,000 negative asylum decisions were made and almost 13,000 deportations were carried out. Around 42,000 people escaped the procedure and travelled to other countries or returned to their homeland,” the statement of Karner reads.

Since Austria sends back a large number of people to their countries each year, the authorities stressed that cooperation with countries of origin is important, suggesting that the authorities plan on working on the matter.

Just recently, Karner said that internal border controls are a decisive factor in combating human smuggling inside the bloc. He also stressed that Austria would continue to keep strict border rules for as long as necessary in order to block all illegal activities at its border.