A total of 2,876 unauthorized entries were registered in Germany in December 2023, according to provisional data from the federal police, thus accounting for a decrease compared to November (4,050) and the second half of October (5,488) figures.
The German government attributes such a decline to the temporary reintroduction of controls at the shared borders with Poland, the Czech Republic and Switzerland.
As part of efforts to halt irregular migration and combat smuggling, authorities in Germany decided to reimpose border checks with its south and east neighbouring countries.
On October 16, 2023, Berlin notified the European Commission for the first time regarding the introduction of frontier checks with Poland, Czechia and Switzerland, mentioning irregular migration concerns.
Migratory situation via the Eastern Mediterranean route, the Balkan region and through the Eastern route, increase in human smuggling; land borders with Poland, Czechia and Switzerland.
Since then, Germany has notified the Commission four times about the extension of the same measure, which at present is set to last until March 15, 2024.
Besides, authorities in Germany have continued to keep in place controls at the land borders with Austria since the fall of 2015, and they have been extended several times.
Big influx of persons seeking international protection, all borders with a focus on Austrian land borders.
The figures provided by the German Federal Police show that a total of 120,052 unauthorised entries were registered last year in Germany, while the figures stood at 91,986 in 2022 and 57,637 in 2021.
However, the decline in the number of unauthorised entries noted recently is also attributed to weather conditions, which bring additional difficulties for migrants to cross the borders as the weather gets colder.
The reintroduction of controls at the internal borders is permitted to all EU countries under the Schengen Borders Code (SBC) in case of a serious threat to public or internal security; however, it must be applied as a last resort measure in exceptional situations, and must also respect the principle of proportionality.
The increased number of irregular border crossings, together with the war between Israel and Hamas, has led several EU countries to reintroduce frontier checks in order to better manage the migration situation, with Czechia and Austria being the latest countries to announce further extension of such a measure.
Last month, Czechia announced that it would extend border controls with Slovakia until February 2 over irregular migration and people smuggling concerns.
Similar measures were also announced by authorities in Austria, who decided to prolong border controls with Czechia once again in order to manage the migration situation better.
