Austria turns away hundreds of migrants over falsified personal details

Police in the southern Austrian state of Carinthia have sent hundreds of migrants back to Slovenia over the past few days due to their falsified personal information.

During spot checks at major traffic points, there has been a noticeable increase in the number of migrants who claim they come from war-torn regions in Syria, Austrian national public service broadcaster ORF quoted Police spokesperson Rainer Dionisio as saying on Tuesday.

It usually becomes clear after a short chat with officers that migrants do not in fact come from these areas, as they speak different languages and dialects, or unable to provide sufficient information on their alleged country of origin, according to the spokesperson.

Dionisio said their true identity thus remains unknown, and they must be "rigorously rejected."

During Christmas, there were hundreds of such migrants who were sent back to Slovenia, through which they entered into Austria, according to Dionisio.

They might be seeking to take advantage of the holiday season as they believe checks will not be conducted as thoroughly as usual, according to Dionisio.

He said there are about 3,000 migrants entering Carinthia each day at present, presenting serious challenges for authorities.

Meanwhile, there are migrants who have travelled from Austria southward to Italy and were sent back under similar circumstances. The Italian side required Austrian authorities to determine the migrants' countries of origin, who were often identified as people from Afghanistan, Pakistan, Turkey, and Morocco. Enditem