Berlin’s move aims to fight illegal immigration amid a sharp rise in the number of asylum applications.
Germany announced Wednesday that it will increase police patrols along “smuggling routes” on its border with Poland and the Czech Republic in an effort to prevent more migrants from entering the country.
The new measures will take effect immediately, Interior Minister Nancy Faeser said.
The announcement came a day after police raids in Germany found more than 100 Syrian nationals inside apartments searched in connection with a smuggling ring.
Faeser did not offer any details on how many more border police officers would be deployed, but stressed that fixed border controls would not be set up as Germany has done along its border with Austria since 2015.
To introduce such controls, Germany would have to notify the European Commission.
On Wednesday, German Finance Minister Christian Lindner wrote on X, formerly Twitter, that his ministry would support increased border control with additional customs officers.
“Border controls must be intensified to stop smuggling and illegal migration,” he wrote.
“In order for this to succeed quickly, I have decided that customs will support this urgent task with 500 personnel.”
Interior Minister Faeser said the new checks would be carried out in close cooperation with Poland and the Czech Republic. They will join the mobile police patrols that have already been checking for cars crossing the border or people trying to enter Germany on foot.
“We must stop the cruel business of smugglers who put human lives at risk to obtain maximum profit,” said Faeser.
Many migrants from countries such as Syria, Afghanistan and elsewhere have been trying to reach Germany to request asylum.
Cities and communities in Europe’s largest state have sounded the alarm over the growing number of arrivals, saying they are running out of space to house them and offer them school places.
More than 220,000 people applied for asylum in Germany between January and August of this year.
In 2022, some 240,000 people applied for asylum. Those numbers are still a far cry from 2015-16, when more than 1 million migrants sought asylum in Germany.
However, in addition to migrants, Germany has also taken in more than 1 million Ukrainians fleeing Russia’s brutal war against their country.
About 25% of all migrants arriving in Germany do so with the help of smugglers along dangerous routes across the Mediterranean Sea and through forests along the Balkan route, Faeser said.
They usually pay thousands of dollars to get to Germany.
Some experts say smugglers only exist because there is a lack of safe and legal routes for people to apply for asylum or enter the EU.
ADVERTISEMENTEven obtaining a visa to visit the bloc can be a problematic process, with large costs, long delays and high chances of rejection.
When police stop migrants at the border because they do not have valid entry documents, they can still enter Germany if they apply for asylum.
“We want to prevent evasive movements of smugglers through flexible and mobile controls in different locations,” said Faeser.
“At the same time, we ensure that the controls have the least possible impact on people, travelers and trade in everyday life.”
Faeser also noted that “for a significant reduction in irregular migration, a joint European asylum system remains the decisive step.”
ADVERTISEMENTThis would mean strictly controlling the EU’s external border so that migrants cannot reach countries like Germany, located in the center of the bloc.
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