In the spring, the number of people who entered Germany via Belarus and Poland without permission and often without papers increased. In June, the number of entries fell again slightly.
After an increase this spring, the number of unauthorised entries into Germany via the so-called Belarus route decreased again somewhat in June. This is according to a response from the federal government to a query from the AfD parliamentary group. After 413 arrivals recorded in March and an increase to 865 unauthorised entries in April, the federal police reportedly registered 1,125 entries in May by people who had previously been in Belarus. In June, police officers then recorded 663 unauthorised entries via this route, according to the federal government.
Poland and the European Union accuse Russian President Vladimir Putin and his ally, Belarusian ruler Alexander Lukashenko, of deliberately helping people from crisis regions with visas and logistics to enter the EU illegally since 2021. The route leads from Belarus across the EU’s external border to Poland.
According to the federal government, the Federal Police registered a total of 3,117 illegal entries of people who had taken this route in the first half of this year. In the whole of 2023, according to the Federal Police’s police entry statistics, 11,932 people entered Germany via this route.
In six months, 1,140 Afghans came via the Belarus route
The largest group of those who came to Germany irregularly via Belarus last year and in the first half of 2024 were people from Afghanistan, followed by people who identified themselves as Syrian nationals. The most common nationalities in the period January to June 2024 also included Somali, Indian, Iranian and Yemeni. Many of the people who enter via this route do not have any papers with them.
In mid-October last year, Federal Minister of the Interior Nancy Faeser (SPD) ordered temporary stationary controls at the borders with Poland, the Czech Republic and Switzerland and notified the European Commission. These have since been extended several times.
Source: Stern
I have been working in the news industry for over 6 years, first as a reporter and now as an editor. I have covered politics extensively, and my work has appeared in major newspapers and online news outlets around the world. In addition to my writing, I also contribute regularly to 24 Hours World.
