On August 7, 2024, Minister of Interior Gerhard Karner, Elisabeth Wenger-Donig, Head of Directorate V/B at the Ministry of the Interior and Karoline Preißer, Deputy Director of The Federal Office for Immigration and Asylum, presented the “return statistics” for the first half of 2024 and shared insights into future priorities for fighting the crime of migrant smuggling and asylum abuse.

In 2023, the Ministry recorded a peak of 12,900 returns, the highest since the establishment of the Federal Office for Immigration and Asylum.

Karner reported 6,553 returns in the first half of 2024, which underlines the increase of six percent compared to the previous year.

3,080 People (47 percent) had to leave Austria after a legally binding decision. 3,473 people (53 percent) refused to leave the country and were forcibly returned - which represents a 20 percent increase compared to the same period last year.

44 percent of all forcibly returned people were convicted of at least one criminal offense. The Minister of the Interior emphasized that a credible, fair and strict asylum policy is the goal of the authorities.