
Austria: Vienna begins works on 'refugee barrier' near Italian border
The Austrian Government went ahead with its plans to build an refugee ‘control area’ at the Brenner Pass close to the Italian border on Tuesday, an attempt to allegedly deter refugees from entering via the so-called Alpine Pass.
According to local police reports, the newly erected structure will be 250 metres (820ft) long and will cover both the motorway and the main road.
The councillor of the local Brennero municipality Giovanni Pederzini expressed scepticism over the barrier, saying that Austria was causing "confrontation" with Italy by arranging plans without their consent. "I’ll let them finish their work and build fences. Then we will see what will happen. What will other European countries say?" said Pederzini.
Brennero has become an active transit point for refugees and migrants arriving by boat in southern Italy. Austria's government has significantly changed its policy towards migrants and refugees in recent months. The Schengen agreement on open borders was 'temporarily cancelled' on January 19 and a strict monitoring system for asylum seekers was further implemented in order to deter migrants from coming to the country.

The Austrian Government went ahead with its plans to build an refugee ‘control area’ at the Brenner Pass close to the Italian border on Tuesday, an attempt to allegedly deter refugees from entering via the so-called Alpine Pass.
According to local police reports, the newly erected structure will be 250 metres (820ft) long and will cover both the motorway and the main road.
The councillor of the local Brennero municipality Giovanni Pederzini expressed scepticism over the barrier, saying that Austria was causing "confrontation" with Italy by arranging plans without their consent. "I’ll let them finish their work and build fences. Then we will see what will happen. What will other European countries say?" said Pederzini.
Brennero has become an active transit point for refugees and migrants arriving by boat in southern Italy. Austria's government has significantly changed its policy towards migrants and refugees in recent months. The Schengen agreement on open borders was 'temporarily cancelled' on January 19 and a strict monitoring system for asylum seekers was further implemented in order to deter migrants from coming to the country.