SHARE
COPY LINK

IMMIGRATION

Police nab 56 refugees inside Austria

People smugglers are continuing to target Austria, as 56 victims of human trafficking were discovered this week in two separate operations.

Police nab 56 refugees inside Austria
A group of Syrian refugees. File photo: APA

On Wednesday, a truck was inspected and found to contain 39 Afghans, among whom there were 12 children.  One of the children, a nine-year-old boy, was severely disabled, and at least one of the women (25) was heavily pregnant.

The truck was intercepted on the A4 highway from Hungary near the Austrian town of Bruck an der Leitha.  The 39 people had been cooped up in the truck for several days.

The Afghans were taken to the nearby town of Bad Deutsch Altenburg for processing.  No arrests have yet been made in connection with the people smugglers.

A few hours later, yet another case of trafficking was discovered, involving ten Syrians and seven Iraqis in a vehicle in the nearby towns of Pachfurth and Gerhaus.

All 56 of the refugees have applied for asylum in Austria, however under the Dublin III accords, they are required to apply in the first EU country in which they arrive.

The previous week, a train from Italy was intercepted with 48 asylum seekers on board.

Member comments

Log in here to leave a comment.
Become a Member to leave a comment.

FAR-RIGHT

Germany issues entry ban to Austrian far-right activist Sellner

Radical Austrian nationalist Martin Sellner has been banned from entering Germany, it emerged on Tuesday, days after he was deported from Switzerland.

Germany issues entry ban to Austrian far-right activist Sellner

Sellner, a leader of Austria’s white pride Identitarian Movement, posted a video of himself on X, formerly Twitter, reading out a letter he said was from the city of Potsdam.

A spokeswoman for the city authorities confirmed to AFP that an EU citizen had been served with a “ban on their freedom of movement in Germany”.

The person can no longer enter or stay in Germany “with immediate effect” and could be stopped by police or deported if they try to enter the country, the spokeswoman said, declining to name the individual for privacy reasons.

READ ALSO: Who is Austria’s far-right figurehead banned across Europe?

“We have to show that the state is not powerless and will use its legitimate means,” Mike Schubert, the mayor of Potsdam, said in a statement.

Sellner caused an uproar in Germany after allegedly discussing the Identitarian concept of “remigration” with members of the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) at a meeting in Potsdam in November.

Reports of the meeting sparked a huge wave of protests against the AfD, with tens of thousands of Germans attending demonstrations across the country.

READ ALSO:

Swiss police said Sunday they had prevented a hundred-strong far-right gathering due to be addressed by Sellner, adding that he had been arrested and deported.

The Saturday meeting had been organised by the far-right Junge Tat group, known for its anti-immigration and anti-Islamic views.

The group is also a proponent of the far-right white nationalist Great Replacement conspiracy theory espoused by Sellner’s Identitarian Movement.

SHOW COMMENTS