Millions of euros

This is how lucrative the smuggling business is

It is also - and especially after the wave of refugees in 2015 - a lucrative business: people smuggling! Thousands of illegal immigrants are smuggled through Upper Austria every year to seek their fortune, especially in Germany. In quite a few cases, the smugglers show no consideration for their "goods".

On Tuesday, a trio who transported at least 60 people on 13 proven smuggling trips will once again stand trial in Ried/I. The youngest defendant, a 21-year-old, is the mastermind who paid the wages and set the routes. The two co-defendants (43, 52) were active as chauffeurs who drove off in cars or vans with up to 19 people being smuggled. The people smugglers face up to ten years in prison.

Smugglers themselves migrants
An analysis by the Bavarian public prosecutor's office shows just how lucrative people smuggling is. They analyzed ten investigations from 2023 against such gangs and calculated that the perpetrators had "earned" 13.3 million euros. The traffickers are mostly migrants themselves: 66% were Turkish or Syrian. Foreign suspects for organized crime in Bavaria were Syrians (41), ahead of Nigerians (24) and Turks (19).

Border controls for a limited period
For the time being, the EU Commission has limited border controls with the Czech Republic to April 15, 2025. The EU Commission has limited German controls with Austria to March 15, 2025 for the time being. "However, it is clear to us that without sufficient EU external border protection, the interests of security and the fight against migration must permanently take precedence over the ideal of freedom of travel and a border-free Schengen area. Therefore, the defined deadlines can only be a target, but not their definitive end," emphasizes ÖVP State Secretary Florian Hiegelsberger.