Anti-mass migration Freedom Party (FPÖ) Federal Interior Minister Herbert Kickl has vowed to act after a number of violent attacks committed by migrants occurred on the streets of Vienna.
The Austrian Interior Minister said he would be looking to crack down on criminal asylum seekers in high crime areas and that police would increase the number of raids in the near future.
He singled out areas like Brunnenmarkt in the heavily migrant populated Ottakring district and the Praterstern train station which saw a Chechen stabbed last week by an Afghan migrant who had also stabbed a family that same night, Kronen Zeitung reports.
“We need bold approaches,” Kickl said at a press conference Tuesday and added that asylum seekers must be deported immediately after serving prison sentences. “If asylum seekers are in custody, the process must be brought to an end as quickly as possible,” he said.
Kickl also singled out pro-migrant left-wing NGOs which were attempting to disrupt the government’s ability to deport migrants to Afghanistan. “I do everything to be as restrictive as possible. But we are struggling with resistance,” he said.
The Interior Minister’s comments come after a wave of violent migrant crime gripped the Austrian capital. Last week, an Afghan migrant stabbed four people, a family of three and a Chechen drug dealer, after claiming he had been in a “bad mood”.
This week, an Austrian man of Egyptian origin was shot by an Iranian embassy guard after trying to stab the guard. It was later revealed that the attack may have had an Islamic extremist background as the attacker was said to be involved in politically radical Islamic circles.
Since coming to power alongside the conservative Austrian People’s Party (ÖVP) led by Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz, the FPÖ along with their coalition partner have rejected European Union migrant quotas and have worked to reform the nation’s asylum system.
COMMENTS
Please let us know if you're having issues with commenting.