Austrian border barriers are

border barrier A border barrier is a separation barrier that runs along or near an international border. Such barriers are typically constructed for border control purposes such as curbing illegal immigration, human trafficking, and smuggling. Some such barr ...

s and migration management facilities constructed by

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

between November 2015 and January 2016 on its border with Slovenia and in 2016 on its border with

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

, as a response to

European migrant crisis The 2015 European migrant crisis, also known internationally as the Syrian refugee crisis, was a period of significantly increased movement of refugees and migrants into Europe in 2015, when 1.3 million people came to the continent to reques ...

. They are located on internal

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational political and economic union of member states that are located primarily in Europe. The union has a total area of and an estimated total population of about 447million. The EU has often been des ...

borders, since Austria, Italy, and Slovenia are members of the EU and the free travel

Schengen Area The Schengen Area ( , ) is an area comprising 27 European countries that have officially abolished all passport and all other types of border control at their mutual borders. Being an element within the wider area of freedom, security and j ...

with a common visa policy. The barrier on the Slovenian border is several kilometres long, located near the busiest border crossing,

Spielfeld Spielfeld ( Slovene: ''Špilje'') is a former municipality in the district of Leibnitz in Austrian state of Styria. Since the 2015 Styria municipal structural reform, it is part of the municipality Straß in Steiermark. It was an Austria-Sloveni ...

- Šentilj, and includes police facilities for screening and processing migrants. Another migration management facility with barriers located on Austria's Italian border near

Brenner, South Tyrol Brenner (; it, Brennero ; Ladin: ''Prëner'') is a ''comune'' in South Tyrol in northern Italy, located about north of Bolzano on the border with Tyrol, Austria. Geography Territory Brenner lies about north of the city of Bolzano. The munici ...

was constructed in 2016.

History

In November 2015, during the

announced its intention to begin construction of a

on its border with

Slovenia Slovenia ( ; sl, Slovenija ), officially the Republic of Slovenia (Slovene: , abbr.: ''RS''), is a country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the west, Austria to the north, Hungary to the northeast, Croatia to the southeast, an ...

. The stated aim of the barrier is to help control the flow of refugees and migrants. Both Austria and Slovenia are within the

. The fence will initially be built along at the busiest crossing from Slovenia into Austria, near

. According to Austrian Interior Minister

Johanna Mikl-Leitner Johanna Mikl-Leitner (born 9 February 1964) is an Austrian politician (ÖVP) and since 19 April 2017 the governor of Lower Austria. Early life and education Johanna Mikl-Leitner was born in Hollabrunn, Lower Austria. She grew up in Großharras, ...

, the barrier will be 2.2 metres high. However, preparations will be put in place to enable the construction within 48 hours' notice of a fence along a stretch of the border, if needed. Construction began in early November. The border barrier was finished in January 2016. ManagingMigrationTogether

In February 2016 Austrian Interior Minister

announced that Austria will allow a maximum amount of 80 asylum applications in one day and a maximum of 3,200 asylum seekers who are allowed to cross the Austrian border if they apply in another country for asylum. If one of these two numbers is reached, Austria will close its borders. At the time of this announcement 200 people a day applied for asylum in Austria.Tageskontingent: Bei 80 Asylanträgen an Südgrenze ist Schluss
der Standard, 17. February 2016 Another migration management facility with barriers located on the Austria-Italian border near

was constructed in 2016.

Political context

Austria estimated that it would register 95,000 asylum claims in the first ten months of 2015, on a per capita, among the highest rates of migrant admittance within the European Union. The move came at a time of growing domestic pressure to restrict immigration. In early November,

Heinz-Christian Strache Heinz-Christian Strache (; born 12 June 1969) is an Austrian politician and dental technician who served as Vice-Chancellor of Austria from 2017 to 2019 before resigning owing to his involvement in the Ibiza affair. He was also Minister of Civi ...

, the leader of the

FPÖ The Freedom Party of Austria (german: Freiheitliche Partei Österreichs, FPÖ) is a right-wing populist and national-conservative political party in Austria. It was led by Norbert Hofer from September 2019 to 1 June 2021.Staff (1 June 2021"Aust ...

, sued Chancellor

Werner Faymann Werner Faymann (; born 4 May 1960) is an Austrian former politician who was Chancellor of Austria and chairman of the Social Democratic Party of Austria (SPÖ) from 2008 to 2016. On 9 May 2016, he resigned from both positions amid widening critic ...

, Interior Minister Mikl-Leitner, Minister of Defense

Gerald Klug Gerald Klug (born 13 November 1968) is an Austrian jurist and politician who served as minister of transport, innovation and technology in 2016. A member of the Social Democratic Party, he previously served as minister of defence and sports fr ...

and the

ÖBB The Austrian Federal Railways (german: Österreichische Bundesbahnen, formally (lit. "Austrian Federal Railways Holding Stock Company") and formerly the or ''BBÖ''), now commonly known as ÖBB, is the national railway company ...

for alien smuggling and "failing to protect the country's borders" against the influx of migrants.

References

{{coord missing, Austria Border barriers constructed during the European migrant crisis Fortifications in Austria Austria–Slovenia border 2015 establishments in Austria

History

Political context

See also

References