Migration: Unauthorized entries are declining – result of new controls?

In the first three weeks after the start of stationary controls at all German land borders, the police detected around 13 percent fewer unauthorized entries than in the three weeks before. This is shown by preliminary figures from the Federal Police, which are available to the German Press Agency.

As can be seen from a response from the federal government to a written question from Left-wing Bundestag member Clara Bünger, between September 16 and October 6, the police encountered a total of 3,464 foreigners at the country’s borders who wanted to enter the country without permission. 2,073 of them were turned back at the border. From August 26th to September 15th there were 3,984 unauthorized entries and a total of 2,353 rejections.

There have been controls at all land borders for a month and a half

Since September 16th, the Federal Police have been checking at the land borders with France, Luxembourg, Belgium, the Netherlands and Denmark on the orders of Federal Interior Minister Nancy Faeser (SPD). There have been controls at the borders with Poland, the Czech Republic and Switzerland since mid-October 2023, and they were introduced at the German-Austrian land border in autumn 2015. Although not every single traveler is checked at all border sections, everyone can expect to be checked.

Since the introduction of stationary controls, the number of unauthorized entries at the borders with Luxembourg, Belgium and the Netherlands has increased. At the German-French border, where there had already been temporary controls this year due to major sporting events, there was a slight decrease from 766 to 567 unauthorized entries during the period under review.

Decrease in unauthorized entries in the East

There have also been fewer unauthorized entries at the borders with Poland, the Czech Republic, Switzerland and Austria since September 16th. At the German-Polish border, for example, the federal police detected 631 unauthorized entries in the following three weeks, after registering 847 people without a valid residence permit in the same period before.

The number of unauthorized entries detected at the German-Danish border is already very low. In the three weeks before the inpatient checks began, 25 people were noticed there. In the three weeks that followed, the police discovered 23 unauthorized entries.

Border controls are not actually planned in the Schengen area. Federal Interior Minister Nancy Faeser (SPD) justified the order of stationary controls at all land borders to the EU Commission with irregular migration and protection against Islamist terrorists and cross-border crime.

The police speak of unauthorized entry if a foreigner wants to cross the border without a valid residence permit. According to the Federal Government, rejections are only permitted if someone does not express a request for asylum or if they are temporarily banned from re-entering the country. This is the case, for example, if someone has previously been deported, or for people who come from so-called safe countries of origin if their asylum application has already been rejected as “obviously unfounded”.

Without stationary controls directly at the border, rejections are not possible. In addition, if such controls are in place, smugglers are more likely to be discovered by the police. The fact that smuggling gangs often look for other routes when there are stricter controls at one section of the border is an argument for comprehensive controls. However, these increase the workload of the federal police.

Fewer irregular migrants are coming to Europe

One reason why unauthorized entries have recently fallen is that fewer migrants have arrived irregularly in Europe in recent months. According to the EU border protection agency Frontex, the number of unauthorized entries at the external borders of the European Union fell by 42 percent to around 166,000 unauthorized border crossings in the first nine months of this year. It is questionable whether the German internal border controls introduced in October 2023 in the east and on the border with Switzerland have a deterrent effect.

According to Frontex, the decline was particularly severe on the central Mediterranean route – which runs from North Africa to Italy and Malta – at minus 64 percent. 79 percent fewer people came via the Western Balkan route, which could be due to more intensive controls in Romania and Bulgaria.

Frontex, on the other hand, noticed a significant increase on the West African route, which is often very dangerous for migrants and whose destination is mainland Spain or the Canary Islands, as well as on the Eastern land route (plus 192 percent).

Bünger called on Faeser to stop internal border controls. “She will not win the political competition with the right-wingers over who supposedly guards the borders better,” she said. In addition, pro-European forces would be weakened by “unilateral national measures”.

Most recently, according to dpa information, an average of around 1,500 unauthorized entries per week were counted at German airports and land borders per month. – significantly less than a year ago. Most of them come from Syria, Afghanistan and Turkey. Recently, however, some irregular migrants from Morocco and Algeria have also come via France. Some Russian citizens without a residence permit also wanted to enter the country via the Czech Republic.