Huge police campaign at the Westbahnhof: 198 arrests and more!

Huge police campaign at the Westbahnhof: 198 arrests and more!

Westbahnhof, Wien, Österreich - The Viennese police are currently carrying out targeted focus controls at the Westbahnhof, which are mainly directed against asylum seekers. This measure aims to check the lawful stay of people in Austria and prevent abuse of social service. The checks are part of a comprehensive strategy that has already comprised 2,192 main acts since the beginning of 2025, in which 1,198 ads have been reimbursed and 198 people, including 30 minors, have been arrested. In addition, 32 weapons (six of them for minors), over 13,000 euros in cash and drugs were secured. Also in 2024 there were high operations by the police with 5,188 focus campaigns, 728 arrests and similar securities, which indicates the persistent problem that the authorities have to cope with.

Interior Minister Gerhard Karner (ÖVP) visited the officers at the Westbahnhof and emphasized the strategic planning behind these controls. A special focus is on signs of radicalization, including showing flags of terrorist organizations. The Ministry of the Interior also regularly carries out controls to check the legality of social benefits for asylum entitlements. The Performance Control Unit was founded in 2019 in order to identify illegal beneficiaries and to combat illegal abuse of social benefits.

review of social services

The Ministry of the Interior reports that beneficiaries from abroad are obliged to report their trips abroad to the responsible authorities. The current geopolitical Situation, in particular the Ukraine conflict, represents challenges for basic services in Austria. Claims on basic care requests require need for help, and in the first half of 2022 alone illegal social benefits of around 420,500 euros were uncovered. An example proves the abuse of social benefits: A GVS recipient from Azerbaijan received services through incorrect information, the damage of which amounts to 10,000 euros.

The control also includes cases in which trips abroad were not reported, which is referred to as ALF cases (foreign trips abroad of beneficial foreigners). In the first half of 2022, over 3,200 such trips were checked, 319 cases were sent to the Taskforce for the criminal law review. The ministry has set up a control system in three regions nationwide.

Current asylum statistics

In the context of the asylum situation in Austria, only 3,593 positive decisions in the area of asylum and subsidiary protection were made in April 2025, which corresponds to a decrease of 62 percent compared to the previous year. This number has been the lowest since the beginning of 2021 and illustrates the continuous decline in positive decisions, especially among Syrian applicants, whose number has dropped by 98 percent in April 2025 compared to April 2024. Afghans received the most positive decisions, followed by Somaliern.

A total of 6,056 asylum applications were made in Austria in 2025, which represents a decrease of 35 percent compared to the previous year. Of these applications, 37 percent of Afghans, 26 percent of Syrians and 6 percent were Somalier. It is noteworthy that children made 51 percent of all asylum applications, and only 33 percent of the applications were from newly traveled asylum seekers.

The complexity of the topic is illustrated by the various factors such as asylum advertising and the review of social benefits, which therefore pose a constant challenge for the Austrian authorities. The Austrian Integration Fund, which regularly publishes current figures, data and facts about asylum, migration and integration in Austria, provides further details on the current situation and developments.

For deeper insights into the controls and their backgrounds, see the reports of Kleine Zeitung , bmi and Integration fund .