Austria stays away from the tractor mafia: drastic decline in arrests!

Austria stays away from the tractor mafia: drastic decline in arrests!

Burgenland, Österreich - On April 20, 2025, the Ministry of the Interior will take stock of the tractor activities in Austria. In the first three months of the year, only 25 tractors were arrested, which corresponds to a decline of over 90 percent compared to 2023 when 751 arrests were recorded. The number of people picked up was also very popular: around 600 people were taken up from January to March 2025, and almost 6,000 in the same period last year. Interior Minister Gerhard Karner emphasizes that these developments are due to the effective measures to fight the tractor mafia.

A reason for the decline in tractor activities in Austria is the increased commitment of the authorities in neighboring countries. Austrian police officers support border protection in Serbia, Hungary and on the Bulgarian-Turkish outside border. The "Operation Fox" is an important part of this strategy in which more than 40 Austrian police officers are in use in Hungary. These measures, together with the suspension of asylum applications for Syrian refugees as well as the implementation of extended document controls and DNA tests, clearly stamp the tractor business.

shift in tractor activities

The tractor route has shifted from the classic Serbia-Hungary route towards the Balkan Castle Route since 2023. It is reported that the routes over Turkey, Bulgaria, Bosnia, Croatia and Slovenia are increasingly preferred, while Austria has become less attractive to tractors. This can also be seen in the monthly number of attacks that have been declining in Eastern Austria since the end of October 2023 with low double -digit numbers. The decline is particularly drastic in Burgenland, where in April 2024 there were only about 40 attacks compared to around 1,400 in April 2023.

The fight against tractor activities has also led to increasing towing prices, which at the same time reduces demand from the refugees. In 2022, over 700 tugs were identified and arrested, with the number of arrests even increasing in 2023. The Ministry of the Interior has also implemented effective measures to monitor the tractor routes in order to be able to react flexibly to changes within the activities.

deportations and voluntary departure

Between January and March 2025, a total of 3,315 people from Austria were deported, which represents an increase of almost 5 percent compared to the previous year. Of these deportations, 1,705 (51 percent) were voluntary and 1,610 (49 percent). A significant part of the deported persons, about 46 percent, had had previous criminal proceedings. The Dublin Ordinance in particular played a role in the deportation of 50 Syrians in the first quarter of 2025.

originally had 188 Syrians in the comparison period in 2023 and 2024 voluntarily left the country. In contrast, 234 Syrians and Syrians Austria already left voluntarily in the period from January to the end of March 2025. These developments are a clear indication of the effectiveness of the measures implemented as part of the tractor control.

For more information on this topic, click [5min.at] (https://www.5min.at/5202504201729/25-Teit-seit-jahre- Meiden-Die Schleppermafia-oesterreich/), [Democracy Center] (https://www.democracy center.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/mot_factsheet_schlepperei_2020.pdf) or BMI.