2016-01-12 09:57:00

Germany sends migrants back to Austria


(Vatican Radio) Austrian police say that neighbouring Germany has been sending an increasing number of migrants back to Austria since the beginning of the month. The developments are expected to also impact the Balkans from where thousands of migrants fleeing war and poverty try to reach the West. 

Listen to Stefan Bos' report

Austrian police say that the daily number of migrants being turned back by Germany has risen from 60 in December to 200 since the start of the year. Many have no valid documents, while others did not want to apply for asylum in Germany but in other countries, notably in Scandinavia. 

Police say that most sent back to Austria are not Syrians, who usually get asylum. 

Instead, they are migrants mostly from Afghanistan as well as Morocco and Algeria. New Year's Eve attacks on women in the German city of Cologne, blamed on migrants, have put pressure on Chancellor Angela Merkel. 

Women described what they called 'terrible' assaults, while Cologne police and the mayor have come under pressure over the massive attacks. 

"FEARING SECURITY"

Austrian television says that with many migrants being sent back to Austria, residents in border areas now fear for their own security. Integration official Rudolf Anschober of Upper Austria state has expressed concern about the situation.

"I already warned before Christmas that Germany was sending an increasing number of people back due to the internal political situation in the country," he explained. 

"But apparently the [Austrian national] Interior Ministry has no plan to deal with this theme."      

 

Last week, Sweden, a favoured destination for many of the migrants, sought to stem the flow by imposing controls on travellers from Denmark. And, with new revelations emerging over attacks in Germany linked to migrants, Austria fears the number of people being send back will increase. 

 

Nineteen individuals are currently under investigation by German police in connection with the attacks including 14 men from Morocco and Algeria, most of them asylum seekers. 

GERMANY SHOCKED

The scale of the assaults on women in Cologne and other German cities has shocked Germany. More than 500 criminal complaints were filed, 40 percent of which alleging sexual assault, officials said.

Apparent retaliatory attacks in Cologne on Sunday were condemned by the government as inexcusable. Around 1.1 million asylum seekers, many of them fleeing 

war and poverty, arrived in Germany in 2015.

However the decision to send many back is expected to not only create tensions with Austria, but also with the Balkans. 

Despite rough winter weather at least an estimated 20.000 refugees have so far been trying to reach Western Europe through the Balkans since New Year's Day. 

 








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