The German government announced on Monday the temporary introduction of controls at all land borders of the country in order to “reduce irregular migration and improve internal security” from September 16.
The German Interior Ministry has announced that it has notified the European Commission (EC) on Monday of its intention to introduce temporary border controls with France, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Belgium and Denmark over the next six months, in addition to those already in place in the border areas with Switzerland, Austria, the Czech Republic and Poland.
“We are strengthening our internal security and maintaining our firm course against irregular immigration,” Interior Minister Nancy Faeser said during an appearance in Berlin where she announced the new controls.
The Social Democratic minister stressed that this measure includes the possibility of rejecting at the border migrants caught with false documents or who do not have a visa allowing them to enter Germany.
Since October 2023, when temporary controls were introduced at the borders with Poland, the Czech Republic, Austria and Switzerland, 30,000 people seeking to enter illegally from these countries have already been turned back, he said.
Faeser said German police can currently only reject people at the border who do not apply for asylum. However, he said his ministry was studying how to carry out “mass rejections” in the future and had found a legally sound formula that he would present on Tuesday at a meeting with the opposition and regional governments.
Since last month’s knife attack in western Germany, migration has once again been high on the country’s political agenda.
Shortly after, the Interior Ministry presented a package of measures aimed at strengthening the right to firearms, reducing benefits granted to asylum seekers already registered in other countries and facilitating the expulsion of violent criminals, which was approved this Monday by the Council of Ministers.
In the meantime, the Christian Democratic opposition has proposed a state pact on immigration to the government coalition of Social Democrats, Greens and Liberals, on the condition that in future asylum seekers will also be turned back at the German borders.
Seeking asylum is a right, and those who do so should not be expelled or returned to contexts where their life or liberty is at risk, a principle enshrined in international refugee law.
In the regional elections on September 1 in the states of Saxony and Thuringia, the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD), a party that has made tougher immigration policy a pillar of its political platform, came first and second, respectively, with a third of the vote.
He is also expected to do well in the state of Brandenburg, where the vote will take place on September 22.
Temporary controls at the border with Austria will be in place until November 1 and at the borders with Switzerland, the Czech Republic and Poland until December 15, although the Interior Ministry said these measures should also be extended to match the rest of the country’s borders.
