migration
GdP calls for better equipment for border controls
The number of unauthorized entries into Germany fell even further in November. photo
© Frank Hammerschmidt/dpa
Stationary controls at the borders are intended to combat smuggling crimes more effectively and limit irregular migration. According to the GdP, however, the officials lack equipment and resources.
The police union (GdP) is calling for better equipment and care for police officers, which has been expanded since mid-October Border controls. “There is a problem with everything,” said the GdP chairman for the federal police, Andreas Roßkopf, to the “Rheinische Post”. “There is a lack of professional equipment at the control points, decent accommodation and sufficient funds to pay the travel expenses of colleagues.”
At the moment, 16 hundreds, i.e. more than 1,600 riot police, plus additional forces from domestic departments, are also deployed at border controls. “There is an urgent need for action on the part of the government, namely that we need additional resources in order to be able to properly care for and support our colleagues on site.”
Faeser claims effectiveness
Federal Interior Minister Nancy Faeser (SPD) ordered stationary controls at the borders with Poland, the Czech Republic and Switzerland in mid-October. The aim is to combat smuggling crime more strongly and limit irregular migration. There have been stationary internal border controls on the German-Austrian border since autumn 2015.
Police union member Roßkopf once again expressed skepticism about the effectiveness of the measure. “That is not the solution. These are people who are fleeing from extreme need, from Afghanistan, Syria or Turkey,” he said. These people could not be deterred by border controls. In addition, the smuggling organizations are highly professional and highly criminal. “Billions are going over the counter. We’re not going to prevent that through border controls.”
Faeser, however, told the “Rheinische Post” that the combination of mobile and stationary controls works. “Thanks to our temporary border controls and the closely coordinated measures that our neighboring states are taking at their borders, the number of unauthorized entries has fallen from over 20,000 in October to around 7,300 in November – by more than 60 percent. Since mid-October, the federal police have approximately 340 smugglers caught.”