Austria sees 23 pct drop in number of people entering, staying in country illegally

Source: Xinhua| 2019-08-24 01:16:22|Editor: Mu Xuequan
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VIENNA, Aug. 23 (Xinhua) -- Austria has seen a 23.5 percent decrease in the number of people entering or staying in the country illegally including via smuggling during 2018, the Criminal Police Office (BK) said in a new report on Friday.

A total of 21,236 such persons were confirmed to have been intercepted by authorities, of whom 18,170 were found to have either attempted to enter the country illegally or were staying without the legal right to do so. This was down from 18,527 people in 2017.

A further 2,843 people were smuggled into the country, down 6,151 people or 68.4 percent compared to the year prior, while the number of people smugglers remained about the same on 223.

The largest proportion of documented illegal border crossings into Austria was again found at the shared border with Italy on 5,160 people, or 51.3 percent of the total. This was followed by people who entered illegally via Hungary (16.4 percent) and Germany (14.2 percent).

The BK said the overall decline was due to factors including a decrease in conflict in Syria, and Turkey holding to a migration pact it made with the European Union to stem the onward flow of migrants.

BK director Franz Lang said "uncontrolled illegal migration" remains a challenge for Austria and the European Union, and also involves danger for people who are smuggled. He said it is therefore necessary to "only allow legal migration into Europe."

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