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Austria to summon Hungary ambassador over human smugglers’ release

Austria's foreign ministry said it will summon the Hungarian ambassador later Monday after Budapest revealed its plans to release hundreds of convicted human smugglers from prison, citing high costs.

Published: 22 May 2023 15:53 CEST
Austria to summon Hungary ambassador over human smugglers' release
Austrian border policemen check papers of car passenger at the Austro-Hungarian border in Nickelsdorf, Austria, near Hegyeshalom, Hungary. (Photo by JOE KLAMAR / AFP)

Last month, the Hungarian government issued a decree, which allows for the release of up to 700 foreign detainees convicted of people smuggling, provided they leave the country within 72 hours.

“We expect an immediate and complete clarification from Hungary and have… summoned the Hungarian Ambassador to the Foreign Ministry in Vienna for an urgent meeting this afternoon,” the ministry said in a statement on Monday.

READ ALSO: How many travellers are turned away at European borders because of 90 day limit?

“We are very concerned about reports of the Hungarian government’s decree to release… convicted human smugglers,” it said. “As a neighbouring country, this decision… has a direct impact on our security,” it added.

Over the weekend, Austria’s Interior Ministry said it would tighten border checks with Hungary, especially focusing on vehicles coming from Hungary, Romania and Serbia.

Following an unconfirmed Hungarian media report that several convicted people smugglers have been released, the Austrian ministry instructed its head of public safety to contact the Hungarian authorities and “prepare and initiate… countermeasures”.

READ ALSO: EU’s planned biometric border check system ‘delayed again’

“Smugglers are criminals who belong to organised crime. Their brutal acts endanger human lives,” the ministry said.

On Sunday, Austrian Foreign Minister Alexander Schallenberg discussed the matter with his Hungarian counterpart Peter Szijjarto. The Hungarian government did not immediately reply to a request by AFP to confirm whether it has started to enforce the decree.

Budapest has justified the decree, stating that its taxpayers should no longer need to pay the high costs associated with imprisoning foreign criminals.

Hungary also said the number of prisoners convicted of crimes related to human trafficking has been increasing in recent years.

READ ALSO: Reader Question: Does a passport renewal restart the 90 day clock for visiting Austria?

According to information provided by the Hungarian government, 2,600 foreign convicts from 73 countries are currently being held in Hungarian prisons.

Some 700 detainees would be affected by the measure.

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CRIME

Are there ‘young gangs’ forming in Vienna?

If you read Austrian tabloid media, Vienna has a 'gang' problem, with several crimes committed by groups of young people in recent months. But is that true?

Published: 18 April 2024 13:17 CEST
Are there 'young gangs' forming in Vienna?

Austrian tabloid media jumps on such stories: a group of teenage girls breaking into cars in Linz or vandalism and robberies committed by young people in Vienna. Particularly in the capital, it seems that there was a rise in crimes committed by groups of young people. But does that mean that Vienna has a gang problem?

According to the newspaper daily Der Standard, the Vienna Provincial Police Directorate (LPD) repeatedly states that the much-cited youth gangs do not exist but that there is “an increase in young people appearing in groups and committing offences”.  

What does that mean, and what is the difference between “young people appearing in groups and committing offences” and gangs?

According to the police: “The term gang is commonly used in everyday language – without a precise definition in this context. In criminal law, however, the term is clearly defined. From a criminal law perspective, a gang is an organised, hierarchically structured group of people intent on committing offences on an ongoing basis.”

READ ALSO: Which crimes are on the rise in Austria?

According to the police, they are dealing with “groups that come together spontaneously” and are not “hierarchically organised.” These groups mostly commit “thefts or minor robberies” but are not criminal organisations. 

So, technically, Vienna does not have a “youth gang” problem, but it does have an increase in young people in groups committing crimes – though the police didn’t share official numbers.

A recent Kurier report stated that the number of crimes committed by young people and children under the age of 14 has doubled in the last ten years.

At the same time, there has only been a slight increase among young people over the age of 14 and even a decrease among young adults. The main crimes committed by young people and adolescents are theft, damage to property, assault, burglary and dangerous threats.

Christian Holzhacker, Head of Education at the Association of Viennese Youth Centers, told Der Standard that it is important not to “stigmatise” an age group and that the word gang is often used in an “inflationary way”. He points out that in relation to the size of the Viennese population, the number of minors committing crimes is small, even if it is increasing.

He also highlighted that stigmatising regions or groups of young people who get together in public spaces is not the answer. “If you want to fight crime, you have to look at the realities of the lives of the people who have committed crimes,” he said.

READ ALSO: Is Vienna a safe city to visit?

What are the police doing about the crime?

Austria’s federal criminal police office has gathered a new special task force to combat youth crime (EJK). According to the Ministry of the Interior, the idea is to recognise the new phenomenon and combat youth gangs in Austria. 

The task force is set to carry out checks in public spaces, particularly in urban areas and “potential hotspots”, Kurier reported.

The task force also set up a “panel of experts” to suggest how parents can be more responsible, how children’s use of social media and cell phones can be improved, and how the asylum system can better accommodate young migrants.

However, Dieter Csefan, head of the task force, told Die Presse that most young offenders were born in Austria.

“There are unaccompanied minors, but the young people we meet in the groups and gangs usually have parents. And the prolific offenders often come from a normal home. They can also be native Austrians. So it’s not always just Afghans or Syrians”, he said.

He also mentioned that “lowering the age of criminal responsibility is one suggestion” to fight crime. Currently, the age is set at 18, but there are discussions and proposals to lower it to twelve. However, “that alone is not necessarily enough”, he added.

READ NEXT: Which parts of Austria have the highest crime rates?

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