Since Monday, September 16, border controls have been in effect at all land borders of Germany. For now, they are being introduced temporarily – for six months.
In this way, the German Interior Ministry hopes to limit the flow of illegal migrants and improve the situation in the country.
Germany is currently conducting checks on its borders with Austria, as well as Poland, the Czech Republic and Switzerland. From September 16, border controls will be introduced on the borders with France, the Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg and Denmark. The security measures will thus extend to all countries bordering Germany.
Until we achieve reliable protection of the EU’s external borders through the new Common European Asylum System and other measures, this requires us to strengthen controls at our national borders, explained German Interior Minister Nancy Feser.
The introduction of border controls means that police will selectively check the documents of passengers and drivers entering Germany.
The scope, intensity, specific location and duration of the corresponding controls depend, among other things, on the development of the situation and the state of the local transport infrastructure, the German Interior Ministry noted.
During the checks, the border police will use “the entire spectrum of stationary and mobile measures,” including forced returns. According to the German Interior Ministry, since October 2023, German law enforcement officers have detected about 52,000 cases of unauthorized entry into the country and forcibly returned about 30,000 people back to Poland, the Czech Republic, Austria and Switzerland. People were denied entry to Germany if they did not have valid documents, a visa or residence permit, or if they provided false documents.
As noted by the German Ministry of the Interior, controls at all borders are carried out in order to limit illegal migration and protect internal security.
In the area of illegal migration, the overall burden on Germany must be taken into account, in particular the limited capacity of local authorities for accommodation, education and integration due to the reception of 1.2 million refugees from Ukraine and asylum seekers in previous years. The current security situation is also a key factor, especially protection against Islamist terrorism and cross-border crime,” the department noted. “We are doing everything possible to protect people in our country from this. This includes the far-reaching measures we are currently taking,” emphasized German Interior Minister Nancy Feser.
Poland and Austria have sharply criticized Germany’s plans, Tagesschau reports. Austrian Interior Minister Gerhard Karner said that it was out of the question for Austria to take back people who had been refused entry by Germany.
CDU/CSU parliamentary representative in the Bundestag, Alexander Throm, explained that his parliamentary group is counting on a “domino effect” in this matter. If more EU countries reject asylum seekers in the future, the number of such people will decrease.
It’s about other EU countries protecting their borders and not just allowing refugees to enter Germany, Trom said.
Source: Racurs
I am David Wyatt, a professional writer and journalist for Buna Times. I specialize in the world section of news coverage, where I bring to light stories and issues that affect us globally. As a graduate of Journalism, I have always had the passion to spread knowledge through writing.