Germany scales up border patrols with Poland, Czech Republic to prevent migrants
Germany announced on Wednesday 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.
Berlin’s move is aimed at fighting illegal immigration amid a sharp rise in the number of asylum applications.
The new measures would begin immediately, said Interior Minister Nancy Faeser.
The announcement came a day after police raids in Germany found more than 100 Syrian citizens 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 no fixed border checks would be installed as Germany has done along its frontier with Austria since 2015.
In order 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 the increased border control with additional customs officers.
“Border controls are to be intensified to stop smuggling and illegal migration,” he wrote.
“To ensure that this succeeds quickly, I have decided that customs will support this urgent task with 500 forces.”
Interior Minister Faeser said new controls would take place in close cooperation with Poland and the Czech Republic. They will be in addition to mobile police patrols that have already been checking cars crossing the border or people trying to enter Germany by foot.
“We must stop the cruel business of smugglers who put human lives at risk for maximum profit,” Faeser said.
Many migrants from countries like Syria, Afghanistan and elsewhere have been trying to get to Germany to apply for asylum.
More than 220,000 people have applied for asylum in Germany in the period from January to August this year.
In 2022, about 240,000 people applied for asylum. Those numbers are still a far cry from 2015-16 when more than 1 million migrants applied for asylum in Germany.
However, in addition to migrants, Germany has also taken in more than 1 million Ukrainians fleeing Russia’s brutal war on their country.
