Austria Lists Over 11,000 Asylum Seekers As Crime Suspects

MEP: The Austrian newspaper, Krone, which referenced data received by the right-wing Freedom Party of Austria (FPÖ) from the Ministry of Interior revealed the number of asylum seekers having trouble with the law is on the rise in the country as up to 11,158 were suspected of committing offences in the first half of 2016, compared to 15,236 in the whole of 2015.

Drug-related offences are the most common violations of the law committed by prospective refugees, with 3,228 charged.

Theft is the second most prevalent offence, with 2,481 suspects. In addition, 628 were accused of making dangerous threats, while 311 were charged with participating in a brawl.

While the heated debate over migrants committing crimes of a sexual nature may grab all the headlines, in fact, only 66 asylum seekers were listed as suspects in rape cases in the first half of 2016, while another 105 were accused of sexual harassment or public sex acts.

Just 13 were suspected of being members of terrorist cells and only two migrants were charged with inciting or approving of terrorist activity.

About a fifth of all offenders, 2,318, come from Afghanistan. Algeria comes in second with 1,631 charged, followed by Morocco with 1,271 suspects, and Nigeria with 1,265. War-torn Syria, from which over one million refugees fled to Europe seeking asylum, is the country of origin of 675 suspects, while 560 offenders came from Iraq.

Notably, the majority of suspects were minors, with teenagers aged 14 to 17 making up the largest group. Moreover, 24 nine-year-old children and 105 children aged 10 to 13 were accused of committing crimes.