"The final figures for 2015 are not yet available, but 90,000 applications for asylum have been submitted in Austria. The real [migration] crisis started in September, 680,000 people passed through Austria," Bezdeka said during a video conference at the Rossiya Segodnya International Information Agency.
Earlier in January, Interior Minister Johanna Mikl-Leitner said migrants who did not intend to apply for asylum in Germany and would only transit through the country would not be able to enter Austria.
In mid-September 2015, Berlin and Vienna reinstated border controls to hold off thousands of undocumented migrants coming to Germany.
Europe is currently struggling to cope with a massive refugee influx, with hundreds of thousands of refugees and migrants fleeing conflict-torn countries of the Middle East and North Africa in search of safety and refuge. Many of them strive to get to wealthier EU states, such as Germany, for the sake of social benefits, free education, and good quality medical services.
