Germany to extend border controls to curb illegal migration

BERLIN

Germany announced Monday plans to extend border controls beyond March 2025 as part of efforts to combat illegal migration.

“Our comprehensive measures to limit irregular migration and combat smuggling crime are working,” Interior Minister Nancy Faeser told the Augsburger Allgemeinen newspaper.

“We need these controls until the protection of the EU’s external borders is significantly increased,” she added.

In September, Germany expanded border controls in the east and south to include the west and north for six months, citing irregular migration, cross-border crime, and terrorist threats.

Border checks were already in place with France due to the Paris Olympic Games and at borders with Poland, the Czech Republic, and Switzerland since mid-October last year. Controls at the German-Austrian land border have been ongoing since 2015.

Germany’s neighbors, including Denmark, the Netherlands, Belgium, and Luxembourg, are all part of the Schengen area, where border-free travel is the norm.

Temporary border controls within the Schengen area are permitted only during exceptional circumstances, such as major international events or significant threats to public order.

Pressure on Germany to address irregular migration intensified after a stabbing attack in Solingen last August.

A rejected Syrian asylum seeker, who arrived in 2022 and was slated for deportation to Bulgaria, killed three people and injured eight others. The Daesh/ISIS terrorist group later claimed responsibility for the attack.

Germany, Europe’s largest economy, remains a leading destination for irregular migrants and asylum seekers. Last year, authorities recorded 266,224 cases of illegal entry and residence, with most migrants coming from Syria and Afghanistan.