Because of the increasing number of illegal entries, the Union faction is demanding controls at the German borders with Switzerland and the Czech Republic. The Federal Ministry of the Interior apparently sees no reason for this.
By Sascha Adamek, rbb
The Union faction in the German Bundestag wants to introduce a motion to introduce border controls at the crossings from Switzerland and the Czech Republic – both countries are members of the Schengen area, within which there are actually no routine border controls.
In the proposal passed by the parliamentary group executive committee today, which ARD-political magazine contrasts It is said that as long as the EU’s external borders are “not adequately protected” and the number of illegal entries via these borders continues, controls at these internal borders must be reintroduced. So far, Germany has only registered an exception to the Schengen rule for the Austrian border.
The CDU domestic politician Christoph de Vries said opposite contrasts, the borders with Switzerland and the Czech Republic are currently being increasingly used for unauthorized entry. The municipalities are already overburdened, so it “cannot go on as it is”. In the meantime, “the acceptance of the right to asylum” is at stake, according to de Vries.
Federal police observe increase in illegal entries
information from contrasts according to A total of 14,675 people are said to have been pushed back during the sporadic controls at the Austrian border in 2022. At the border with Switzerland or the Czech Republic, this procedure by the Federal Police is currently not legally possible because no Schengen exception has been registered here. Overall, the federal police recorded 19,672 unauthorized entries in the first quarter of 2023: “Since 2022, the federal police have noticed a continuously increasing trend in relation to illegal entries,” according to the federal police.
The federal police shared contrasts reported that in the first quarter of 2023, a total of 3,063 illegal entries took place via Switzerland and 1,516 via the Czech Republic. As the “Bild” reported, the number of illegal immigrants from Switzerland increased fivefold from the first to the second half of 2022.
On a contrasts-Ask why controls are only carried out at the Austrian border, the Federal Ministry of the Interior replied that, according to the Schengen Borders Code, a temporary reintroduction of internal border controls is only possible in the event of a “serious threat to public order or internal security”. It always has “ultima ratio character” and is limited in time. At the same time, the ministry announced that there was already an “intensive manhunt” by the federal police on the borders with the Czech Republic and Switzerland – below “the threshold of the temporary reintroduction of internal border controls”.
German police union contradicts
The deputy head of the German police union, Manuel Ostermann, criticized the Federal Ministry of the Interior. If this does not see the need for the temporary establishment of border controls, the powers of the Federal Police would have to be strengthened in the Residence Act so that controls and deportations at the German internal borders by the Federal Police would in principle be possible. In the current legal situation, this is only possible in the case of Schengen exceptions, such as at the Austrian border.
“Solving the problem solely through rhetorical declarations of intent is a fatal mistake,” says Ostermann. He spoke of a “security risk” and the danger of social division.