More than 700 smugglers arrested and 17,600 unauthorized entries prevented – Interior Minister Faeser draws a positive conclusion from the border controls since October. Anyone who does not need protection cannot come here, she emphasized.
Federal Interior Minister Nancy Faeser sees initial successes in limiting irregular migration. “During our border controls, we have arrested 708 smugglers and prevented 17,600 unauthorized entries since October,” the SPD politician told the newspapers of the Funke media group. In addition, the number of asylum applications is “currently a fifth lower than in the same period last year”.
According to the Federal Office for Migration and Refugees, more than 65,400 initial applications were submitted in the first quarter of this year, compared to just under 81,000 in the same period last year.
In mid-October, Faeser introduced temporary stationary controls in Poland, the Czech Republic and Switzerland in response to the sharp increase in the number of refugees. In the case of Austria, this has already existed for years. The controls will initially run until mid-June. However, Faeser has already announced an expansion to all German borders due to the European Football Championship starting in Germany.
Faeser: “If you don’t need protection, you can’t come”
The minister also referred to the federal government’s decision to speed up deportations and asylum procedures as well as the introduction of a payment card for refugees. The card is also intended to prevent asylum seekers from using German state funds to pay smugglers who brought them to Germany or are supposed to bring relatives there.
“We help the people whose lives we have to protect from war, torture and murder,” emphasized Faeser. “But it is also clear that anyone who does not need this protection cannot come to Germany or will have to leave Germany much more quickly.” The federal government has “now clearly drawn this line in European and national law,” emphasized the minister.
Faeser wants to visit external borders
In addition to the legislative package in Germany, a new reform was recently passed at the EU level: After years of negotiations, the EU Parliament approved the controversial Common European Asylum System (CEAS) on Wednesday. With the reform, the EU is finally showing the ability to act after a deep division, said Faeser.
She also referred to the need for effective protection of the EU’s external borders. She wanted to get a picture of the border with Turkey during a visit to Bulgaria on Monday. The aim is to see “how the massively increased protection of the external borders and human rights-compliant asylum procedures can now be implemented as quickly as possible,” said the minister.