The German government does not deem the reintroduction of internal border controls with the Czech Republic as a necessary and right measure to control irregular migration.
The refusal of the government to reintroduce borders comes in spite of the continuous pressure by the Görlitz district council, a town in eastern Germany bordering Poland and the Czech Republic, to reinstate police checks to manage the influx of migrants reaching Saxony from these two countries.
Commenting on the issue, a spokesperson for the Federal Ministry of the Interior has told Sächsische Zeitung newspaper that the reintroduction of internal border controls is currently not under consideration by the government.
Around 10,000 irregular asylum seekers have entered Saxony during the first half of this year alone, while their number has spiked up in recent weeks, the German police has revealed. The majority of them are nationals of Syria, Afghanistan and Türkiye. They mainly use the Balkan route, though an increasing number of them are also using Belarus as a transit country to reach the EU too.
Due to such an influx, the pressure by authorities in Saxony has intensified, calling on Federal government to act on the matter. Last May, the Ministers of Interior of Brandenburg and Saxony sent an open letter to the Federal Minister of Interior urging her to reinstate internal border controls with Poland and the Czech Republic.
“In the context of a similar situation on the borders of Brandenburg with Poland and Saxony’s border with Poland and the Czech Republic, we have jointly appealed to the Minister of Interior to temporarily reinstate stationary control on internal borders [of the EU],” the Ministers wrote.
Yet, later on July, the Federal Minister of Interior of Germany, Nancy Faeser, reiterated her position against the introduction of such measures. Instead, she had proposed the deployment of additional police officers at the borders with Poland and Czechia. Majors of border towns have not welcomed this move, insisting that border controls are essential.
Germany remains the number one destination for a large share of migrants reaching Europe through irregular routes. In July alone the Federal Office for Migration and Refugees (BAMF) received 23,674 first-time asylum applications. Since the beginning of the year, in total, the office has received 175,272 first-time applications and granted decisions on 153,912 of them.
The top ten countries of origin, and the number of applications filed in total are as follows:
- Syria – 52,690
- Afghanistan – 32,826
- Türkiye – 23,846
- Iran – 7,113
- Iraq – 7,167
- Georgia – 6,612
- Russian Federation – 5,647
- Somalia – 3,366
- Eritrea – 2,822
- Unknown – 2,439
