German Chancellor Olaf Scholz has said he believes border controls are a sensible measure to curb illegal migration into Germany.
“In general, we plan to continue to strictly control Germany’s borders,” Scholz said in an interview published Friday in the regional newspaper Saarbrücker Zeitung. “We want to limit irregular migration, as I have announced. The numbers have to come down.”
Migration for the German labor market is necessary and also desirable, he said. “There are too many who come to us irregularly, claiming to be seeking protection from persecution, but cannot provide reasons for asylum and are then rejected,” Scholz added.
He also pointed to existing checks, such as at the French border during the Olympic Games that begin on Friday. The checks will continue until September 30.
For the land borders with Austria, Switzerland, the Czech Republic and Poland, German Interior Minister Nancy Faeser ordered the reintroduction of physical checks in October. These were officially registered with the European Commission as required.
These measures will continue to curb illegal migration and combat human trafficking, the government said.
Currently, the checks apply until 15 December for Switzerland, the Czech Republic and Poland, and until 11 November for Austria, where checks have been carried out since autumn 2015.
There should actually be no border controls within the visa-free travel zone of the Schengen area, which includes most EU countries and non-EU countries such as Switzerland. However, due to the tense migration situation, several countries have reintroduced controls at some of their internal Schengen borders.
During the European Football Championship held in Germany from June 14 to July 14, all of the country’s borders were controlled.
According to the Federal Police, reporting from their headquarters in Potsdam just outside Berlin, a total of 9,172 unauthorized entries were detected between June 7 and July 19. Of those unauthorized entries, 6,401 were turned back, the police said.
Police have also so far arrested 275 suspected smugglers, the statement said.
In the first half of this year, 121,416 people applied for asylum for the first time to the Federal Office for Migration and Fuegoism (BAMF), around 19% fewer than in the same period last year.
War refugees from Ukraine are currently still accepted under the EU’s mass influx directive. They do not have to apply for asylum.
According to experts, additional border controls have resulted in fewer asylum seekers coming to Germany since the autumn.
Another factor is probably the border protection measures of other states, for example along the so-called Balkan route.
Currently, almost only people who have an entry ban or do not submit an asylum application are sent back.
