EUROPE-MIGRANTS/AUSTRIA Austria says 200 refugees, 5 smugglers stopped in border operation
Record ID:
140574
EUROPE-MIGRANTS/AUSTRIA Austria says 200 refugees, 5 smugglers stopped in border operation
- Title: EUROPE-MIGRANTS/AUSTRIA Austria says 200 refugees, 5 smugglers stopped in border operation
- Date: 31st August 2015
- Summary: VIENNA, AUSTRIA (AUGUST 31, 2015) (REUTERS) AUSTRIAN INTERIOR MINISTER JOHANNA MIKL-LEITNER AND AUSTRIA'S HIGHEST-RANKING POLICEMAN, DIRECTOR GENERAL FOR PUBLIC SAFETY KONRAD KOGLER ARRIVING FOR NEWS CONFERENCE REPORTER (SOUNDBITE) (German) AUSTRIA'S HIGHEST-RANKING POLICEMAN, DIRECTOR GENERAL FOR PUBLIC SAFETY, KONRAD KOGLER, SAYING: "In the hours since we started implementing these measures that we agreed with Germany, Hungary and Slovakia, we have been able to get more than 200 refugees out of such vehicles and we have been able to detain five smugglers." PHOTOGRAPHER TAKING PICTURES (SOUNDBITE) (German) AUSTRIAN INTERIOR MINISTER, JOHANNA MIKL-LEITNER, SAYING: "We are seeing people traffickers who become increasingly brutal and unscrupulous and we have to fight that with tougher measures." REPORTER TAKING NOTES (SOUNDBITE) (German) AUSTRIAN INTERIOR MINISTER, JOHANNA MIKL-LEITNER, SAYING: "As of yesterday, we further increased the fight against people traffickers by carrying out intensive checks along the border and in the border area. These are not border checks but intensified search measures near the border." CAMERAMAN FILMING (SOUNDBITE) (German) AUSTRIAN INTERIOR MINISTER, JOHANNA MIKL-LEITNER, SAYING: "Shortly after the start of these checks, we were able to stop a van with French license plates in the Burgenland province in which there were ten refugees. The refugees were immediately taken care of and are now safe." CAMERA CREWS (SOUNDBITE) (German) AUSTRIAN INTERIOR MINISTER, JOHANNA MIKL-LEITNER, SAYING: "These checks are of a security and police nature. This means that we are observing all regulations and we adhere to the Schengen agreement." REPORTER'S NOTEPAD WIDE OF NEWS CONFERENCE
- Embargoed: 15th September 2015 13:00
- Keywords:
- Location: Austria
- Country: Austria
- Topics: General
- Reuters ID: LVABX9KSTKB75GNH76KOWNCFW6Q1
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: Hours after Austria has introduced a new operation along the country's borders, authorities uncovered around 200 asylum seekers and arrested five people traffickers, a senior interior ministry official said on Monday (August 31).
Konrad Kogler, director general for public security at the ministry, said: "In the hours since we started implementing these measures that we agreed with Germany, Hungary and Slovakia, we have been able to get more than 200 refugees out of such vehicles and we have been able to detain five smugglers."
Austrian Interior Minister Johanna Mikl-Leitner, speaking at the same news conference, said checks being undertaken along the Austrian border were not classic border controls.
"We adhere to the Schengen agreement," she said.
A Hungarian motorway leading to Austria was jammed for 20 kilometres (12 miles) on Monday morning as Austrian authorities tightened controls on vehicles that could be used for human trafficking, national news agency MTI reported.
Besides the M1 motorway, a secondary main road was also jammed, state road operator Magyar Kozut told MTI. Over the past three days, police have caught 8,792 migrants crossing into Hungary, most of them from Serbia. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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