Berlin/Seeon – In a decisive move to stem the tide of unauthorized migration, German Interior Minister Nancy Faeser has ordered comprehensive border checks at all German land borders, starting September 16 and lasting for an initial six-month period. This sweeping measure, revealed by government sources on Monday, builds on existing controls at the borders with Poland, the Czech Republic, and Switzerland, in place since last year, and at the Austrian border since 2015.
The expanded border checks will now cover Germany’s western and northern frontiers with Denmark, the Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg, and France. The primary goals are to curtail irregular migration, safeguard internal security against current threats such as Islamist terrorism, and combat cross-border crime. Since last October, over 30,000 people have been turned back, according to the Interior Ministry.
Following a recent meeting on migration with the CDU/CSU parliamentary group and federal state representatives, the government has developed a new “model for European law-compliant and effective rejections.” This strategy reportedly extends beyond current rejection practices. Faeser has presented this model to the CDU/CSU parliamentary group and proposed confidential talks, potentially beginning this Tuesday.
At the same time, Bavaria’s Prime Minister Markus Söder has called for a substantial reduction in immigration, demanding, as a precondition for cross-party consensus, rejections of migrants at German borders. “We must significantly reduce immigration,” Söder declared at the annual meeting of the German County Association in Upper Bavaria. He emphasized that rejections at the borders are both necessary and legally feasible, questioning why further legal reviews are required. “What works in Denmark should work for us as well,” he argued.
Söder also called for additional deportation detention centers, more repatriation agreements with third countries, and a reduction of social incentives for migrants. He criticized the reluctance to engage with countries like Syria and others on these issues, stating that the responsibility for such talks lies with the Foreign Office.
Currently, rejections at German borders are limited to cases where an entry ban is in place or where no asylum application has been made. Rejections at Germany’s internal EU borders are generally only possible where direct border controls are enforced.
Details of the government’s new plan for rejections remain unclear, though past political proposals have included extending rejections to all foreigners without identification or to asylum seekers already registered for protection in another country.
