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Austria conducts first flight to deport failed asylum seekers

Xinhua, July 21, 2016 Adjust font size:

Austria carried out its first Hercules transport flight to deport denied asylum seekers on Wednesday.

The army transport plane was used to transport 11 asylum seekers who had been denied the right to have their application processed in Austria due to the Dublin Agreement.

The flight to Sofia, Bulgaria, took place without incident, the Defense Ministry stated in a press release.

The Hercules transport flights were announced by the Defense Ministry some time ago as a form of assistance to deportation measures from the Interior Ministry, with the former covering the costs.

It remains to be seen whether they will continue in future, however, with no subsequent flights scheduled yet.

Austria Press Agency quoted an Interior Ministry spokesperson as saying the initial flight will be evaluated before further decisions are made.

The action has attracted considerable criticism within Austria, particularly due to the cost, which for the first flight has now been stated to have been 10,740 euros (11,772 U.S. dollars).

Alongside the army personnel operating the aircraft for the three-hour round trip, there were reportedly 37 other personnel including police officers, a doctor, translators and human rights observers on board. Enditem