Government says 200 refugees, 5 smugglers stopped in border operation

Ben Bassey 10:09 - 31 August 2015

Austria says 200 refugees, 5 smugglers stopped in border operation

"We are not in violation of Schengen," she said.

Austrian authorities have uncovered around 200 asylum seekers and arrested five people traffickers as part of a new operation along the country's borders, a senior interior ministry official said on Monday.

Konrad Kogler, director general for public security at the ministry, said: "In the hours since we started implementing these measures that we agreed with , and , we have been able to get more than 200 refugees out of such vehicles and we have been able to detain five smugglers."

Austrian Interior Minister Johanna Mikl-Leitner, speaking at the same news conference, said checks being undertaken along the Austrian border were not classic border controls.