In the first month after the start of controls at Germany's western borders, around 1,000 people were turned back. In addition, from September 16 to October 20, around 1,700 unauthorized entries were detected and around 30 people smugglers were discovered, as the Federal Ministry of the Interior announced on request. The "Rheinische Post" had previously reported on this.
Border controls are not actually planned in the Schengen area. Federal Interior Minister Nancy Faeser (SPD) justified the order for stationary controls at all land borders from mid-September with irregular migration as well as protection against Islamist terrorists and cross-border crime. France, Denmark, Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg are affected by the expansion. Such controls have been in place at the borders with Poland, the Czech Republic and Switzerland since mid-October last year, and were introduced at the German-Austrian land border in autumn 2015.
Clear focus on the south and east
On average, significantly more people are intercepted by border control officers at the four borders in the south and east. According to the Ministry of the Interior, there were around 33,000 rejections and around 57,000 unauthorized entries between mid-October 2023 and 20 October 2024. In addition, around 1,400 smugglers were caught.
The Federal Police plan to publish a report on the overall figures and the impact of border controls on 1 November.
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