In response to numerous questions referring to the refusal of entry to a group of migrants, we would like to explain that the Austrian law enforcement authorities, due to the raised threat level in the country, have stepped up security measures. The registration procedures for migrants entering their country have been tightened.
To this end, they have increased the number of interpreters at the Karavanke/Rosenbash entry point who test whether people actually speak the language of the country whose nationals they claim to be. These additional language checks began on 26 December 2015, which coincides with the date the first groups of migrants were refused.
By the morning of 29 December, the Austrian authorities had refused a total of 413 persons. The only reason for the refusal was the Austrian authorities ascertained that the persons did not come from the countries they claimed to be from. Therefore, the reason for the refusal of entry is not that the migrants come from safe countries or no war zones. The Austrian authorities keep admitting nationals of Morocco, Algeria, Iran, etc.
All rejected migrants are placed at the Centre for Foreigners. Yesterday, after a repeated registration procedure facilitated by contract interpreters, we successfully handed over to the Austrian authorities 91 of the previously rejected migrants. Currently, another 100 previously rejected migrants are on the way to Austria (they, too, were registered again).
It happens that during our repeated registration procedures migrants reveal their real nationality, and when we take them to the Austrian authorities, they again conceal their real origin (we assume that it has to do with their intention of applying for international protection).
In our registration procedures, the identity / nationality of an individual is ascertained by means of information we gather and with the help of an interpreter who can tell us which area a person comes from on the basis of their dialect (e.g. Maghrebi Arabic, including the Moroccan dialect, differs greatly from the Middle Eastern Arabic, which includes the Syrian dialect).
Police Activities in Connection with Current Migration Flows - available information