Slovake jumps into the water in front of customs: Rhine-escape ends in arrest!

Slovake jumps into the water in front of customs: Rhine-escape ends in arrest!

On Monday, July 8, 2025, a Slovak escaped when an attempted crossing of the border over the Rhine came from when he fled the Swiss customs control officers. The incident occurred at the Lustenau-Au border crossing, where the man surprisingly jumped away during a customs control at around 1:00 p.m. and fled through a window of the customs building.

After jumping into the ice -cold water of the Rhine, he swam towards Austria. But the Swiss officials who reacted immediately ran across the bridge and were already able to expect and hold on the suspects on the other. The Slovak was taken into custody due to illegal entry by the Austrian police in Lustenau.

Investigations and international cooperation

like Exxpress.at reported, was investigated against the man in Switzerland on suspicion of burglary. In this context, the Winterthur public prosecutor's office provided an international request for legal assistance to obtain further information and to ask the suspects in the event of ongoing investigations in the event of a burglary from January 2023.

Although the Slovak was initially arrested, it was released from the office after the investigation was completed. Nevertheless, he remains faced with advertisements from both Austria and Switzerland. This shows how closely the authorities of both countries work together in combating cross -border crime.

escape movements in an international context

The incident reflects a broader reality that is visible in the latest reports on escape movements. According to the statistics of the [Destatis] (https://www.destatis.de/de/themen/laender-regions/thema/bevoelkung-arbeit--sziales/bevoelkung/flucht movements.html at the end of 2021, 89.3 million people were fleeing at the end of 2021. Among these are many different groups such as refugees, asylum seekers and domestic people. Over 27 million people were counted as refugees, with many of them fleeing conflicts and persecution.

The increase in the escape movements and the associated challenges for the authorities illustrate the complexity of the problem. On the one hand, globalization has facilitated the mobility of people, but countries are also faced with the challenge of dealing with security aspects and crime.

The rapid reaction of the security forces during the incident over the Rhine shows how important international cooperation is to combat such problems. Officials of both countries must constantly find the balance between the humanitarian support of people on flight and maintaining security and order.