The introduction last month of border controls at Germany’s borders with Poland, the Czech Republic and Switzerland has significantly reduced illegal migration, SchengenVisaInfo reports.
Since 16 October, the number of unauthorised entries at the border has been less than 300 per day, while in the 30-day period preceding the introduction of controls, about 700 were recorded daily.
Until 16 October, the total number of illegal entries at the borders of the three countries and Austria, where controls have been stepped up since the 2015 migrant crisis, was 18,492. However, in the 30 days after that date, that number fell to 11,029, marking a 40 per cent drop. Meanwhile, attempts to enter Poland illegally fell by 56 per cent: 2,795 cases compared to the previous figure of 6,411.
Last month, Interior Minister Nancy Faeser informed the European Commission of Germany’s decision to reintroduce border controls with Poland, the Czech Republic and Switzerland. Although the EU’s Schengen borderless travel rules do not authorise this, the directive has been extended several times.
The police pointed to another factor influencing the decrease in irregular migration, namely Serbia’s recently introduced border controls at the border with Hungary. The report noted that many of the irregular migrants arriving by this route had originally planned to enter Germany.
The problems associated with the influx of migrants are reflected in the statistics: between January and September, almost 234,000 people applied for asylum in Germany, an increase of 73 per cent over the same period last year.
Many German municipalities have expressed concern about the lack of resources to house, care for and integrate refugees, especially as the country is currently hosting more than one million refugees from Ukraine since the war began in February 2022.
Previous figures released by German police show an alarming rise in unauthorised entries into the country, with more than 21,366 people entering the country without permission in September this year. This is the highest monthly figure since February 2016. The figures surpass the previous record set in February 2016, during the peak of the ‘refugee crisis’, when 25,650 people entered the country.
Further police figures for the period from January to September 2023 show that a total of 92,119 people entered Germany illegally. This trend raises concerns that if the current trend continues, the country could surpass the 112,000 people who entered Germany illegally in 2016.
