Official information released Saturday by the Austrian Interior Ministry revealed that the number of refugees who entered the country rose sharply to hit about 7,600 refugees, mostly Syrians.

The ministry expected the number of refugees coming from Hungary, to reach about 10,000 people.

Earlier this week, Austria introduced tougher border checks on its eastern border with Hungary to control the flow of migrants who had been traveling north through the Schengen Area.

Austria is the main gateway for the migrants to Germany, the top destination for asylum seekers. The other two countries that most refugees strive for are France and Sweden.

Faced with a renewed surge of 10,000 expected arrivals in Austria on Saturday, Interior Minister Johanna Mikl-Leitner warned that anyone requesting asylum would be sent back to Slovenia or Croatia if they had transited through those countries.

These Balkan nations are safe countries, she argued. "We are no longer seeing a quest for protection but for optimizing asylum," she charged.

Source: MENA