On Wednesday, German Interior Minister Nancy Faeser presented plans to increase border controls with the Czech Republic and Poland. According to information from participants, she told deputies that the measures planned along the smugglers’ route should be “variable and flexible, depending on the situation, including at the border”. Currently, it does not intend to request stationary border controls from the EU Commission beyond the land border with Austria.
It agreed to similar cooperation with the Czech Republic and Switzerland, which also includes controls on the Czech side of the border.
“These are not effective measures”, criticized the internal policy spokesman for the Union faction, Alexander Throm (CDU). He accused Faeser, who is the Hessian SPD’s main candidate in the state elections on October 8, of having misled the population in recent days with “confusing statements” about border controls for electoral reasons.
After the meeting, the minister explained that the flexible controls were effective against human trafficking, but did not have such an impact on the daily lives of travelers in the border area. Now we have to see what effect the additional controls have. Faeser did not categorically rule out stationary controls, which will have to be requested from the EU Commission in the future.
Since autumn 2015, stationary checks have been in place in Bavaria, on the border with Austria. These controls, which were first notified to the EU Commission by the then Minister of the Interior Thomas de Maizière (CDU), have been repeatedly expanded since then.
Due to the increase in the number of asylum seekers, CDU interior ministers asked Faeser to also request such border controls with the Czech Republic and Poland. However, anyone requesting asylum at the border cannot, as a rule, be immediately refused, even during stationary border controls.
Justice Minister Marco Buschmann (FDP) said: “People who do not come here for humanitarian reasons and have no prospects of staying should be deported more quickly.” He argued that asylum procedures should be carried out in third countries. However, the German government has not yet proceeded with such plans. So far, no country outside the European Union has offered a place where asylum seekers can wait for their procedure to be completed.
Following a meeting of its executive committee, the German District Council called for a significant increase in efforts to limit the influx of refugees. Municipal association president Reinhard Sager said: “In many districts, emergency accommodation such as tents and gymnasiums are used, and all available empty houses or hotels have been rented out.” This is becoming an increasing problem in society. It is also important that federal states only distribute people to the community who have the prospect of staying, he told state governments.
The Federal Police detected a total of around 71,000 unauthorized entries from the beginning of the year until the end of August. The main countries of origin are Syria, Afghanistan, Türkiye and Iraq. During the same period, more than 204,000 people applied for asylum in Germany for the first time – around 77% more than in the first eight months of the previous year.
“The decisive step” in reducing the number of asylum seekers is the planned reform of the Common European Asylum System, Faeser said. The plans agreed between the interior ministers include, among other things, a preliminary asylum control at the external borders and the return of people without the right to protection directly from there.
It is not yet clear whether the reform package can be approved before next year’s European elections. Germany, among others, has expressed concern about so-called crisis regulation. The project presented for this purpose stipulates that, in crisis situations, the period during which people are kept in conditions similar to prison can be extended. Furthermore, the circle of people eligible for the planned strict border procedures could be increased. Faeser was confident Wednesday that a deal would be reached.