German interior minister extends border controls to curb illegal migration
8:23 AM EDT, August 20, 2024
As part of the fight against human smugglers and illegal migration, German Interior Minister Nancy Faeser wants to extend border controls, including at the border with Poland. They were originally scheduled to expire in December this year, the "Sueddeutsche Zeitung" reported on Monday.
Faeser announced on Monday during a meeting with Federal Police Chief Dieter Romann in Rostock that border controls will continue until the number of illegal migrants drops significantly. Currently, the number is decreasing, but it is still higher than in previous years.
"I am not ready to accept these numbers," the German interior minister said. In the German Ministry of the Interior, "anger is also growing that refugees arriving in Europe are still being distributed very unevenly," the newspaper emphasized.
"A few countries are shouldering a large part of the consequences of migration. Faeser announced that the controls currently in place at the borders with Poland, the Czech Republic, Austria, and Switzerland will continue until the European Common Asylum System, adopted in the spring, comes into effect," the newspaper reported.
However, this will take at least a few more months. Controls will expire at the earliest in June 2025. But according to the "Sueddeutsche Zeitung," another extension seems possible.
German authorities see the effect of border controls
After last year's record influx of illegal immigrants (almost 141,000 people), this year that number is falling. So far, German police have registered 58,000 illegal entries into Germany. This is a decrease of 16 percent compared to the same period last year. Authorities emphasize that this is also due to border controls.
The Federal Police have recorded the most illegal entries through Poland, the Czech Republic, Austria, and Switzerland.
The head of the Ministry of the Interior introduced stationary controls at the border with Poland, the Czech Republic, and Switzerland on October 16. Earlier, she reinstated them at the border with Austria. The reason was that the German authorities noticed a growing influx of refugees and a significant increase in human trafficking at these borders.
