The police take stock after border checks: illegal migration to Germany is now rapidly decreasing

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Since the outbreak of the refugee crisis in 2015, when millions of people seeking protection arrived in Europe, the issue of migration has been an ongoing topic in German politics. While a majority of Germans initially agreed with the opening of the border, the mood changed again after just a few months. The country was simply surprised by the sheer number of refugees.

Even today, some eight years later, the situation doesn’t really look any different. Illegal migration is a particular concern for the German authorities. An uncomfortable situation for the government under Chancellor Olaf Scholz (65). The right-wing conservative AfD mobilizes more successfully than any other party on migration and is currently the second strongest party in the country, after the CDU/CSU.

Still 300 cases per day

Demand for stationary border controls subsequently increased among bourgeois politicians. On October 16, after much hesitation, the government finally decided to introduce stationary border controls at the national borders with the Czech Republic, Poland and Switzerland. And there you have it: the measure seems to be working. Illegal migration to Germany has decreased significantly since then.

According to a report in “Welt am Sonntag”, fewer than 300 unauthorized entries into Germany are now recorded every day. In the thirty days before the border controls were introduced, there were seven hundred.

Extrapolated, the figures also speak for themselves. While a month before the introduction 18,492 illegal entries were detected at the borders with Poland, the Czech Republic and Switzerland, today there are still 11,029 – a loss of as much as 40.4 percent!

Various reasons for declines

Due to the increased presence of the German Federal Police and the stricter control regime, there was also an increase in the number of rejections of migrants at the respective borders. They are 4292 in number. There is a striking difference, especially at the border with Poland. Since mid-October and mid-November, 772 people have been returned. The month before there were only four.

The federal police sees several reasons for the “current decline” in the number of illegal entries. On the one hand, the temporarily introduced border controls led to a general decrease in transit migration through Poland, the Czech Republic and Slovakia, “to which the temporary internal border controls there may also have contributed.”

On the other hand, Germany benefits from the fact that the Serbian government has recently tightened controls at the border with Hungary. According to the Federal Police, this “has led to a significant decrease in the number of unauthorized border crossings into Hungary, which has consequences for illegal migration, which then spreads into Germany.” The situation has therefore led to a rethink among migrants and smugglers. “If we look at the big picture, they will probably initially take a wait-and-see approach.”

Inspections extended for another 20 days

The stricter controls seem to be well received in politics. “With the notified border controls, even our expectations have been exceeded, and significantly so,” Saxony’s Minister of the Interior, Armin Schuster (62), told “Welt am Sonntag”.

German Interior Minister Nancy Faeser (53) also seems convinced. In the past, she has always been seen as a consistent opponent of stationary border controls, but today she says: “Our bundle of smart controls is working. We will therefore continue the strong deployment of the federal police with stationary and mobile checks at our borders to combat irregular migration.” The minister seems determined. Border controls with the Czech Republic, Poland and Switzerland have already been extended by twenty days. (ced)

Source: Blick