Some have questioned whether stricter border controls are to blame for the drop in numbers entering Germany. Photo: Reuters/Fabrizio Bensch
Illegal New data showed that migration to Germany fell sharply last month after Berlin introduced tighter border controls.
Federal government statistics showed that in November Some 4,353 “unauthorized entries” were recorded across land borders. compared with 18,384 in the previous month.
There was a significant decrease in the number of entries from Poland, the Czech Republic and Switzerland, where Germany has tightened controls, as well as from Austria.
According to the same data, in November, about 900 migrants were found on the German-Austrian border, of whom 493 were returned. About 7,000 migrants were found in the region in October.
Illegal migration has become one of the most contentious public debates in Germany, with Chancellor Olaf Scholz's coalition government vowing to sharply reduce the number of people crossing into the country. borders.
“Border controls make escape routes more dangerous”
This marks a major change in tone from the Angela Merkel era, when the former German leader welcomed more than a million refugees and asylum seekers, mostly from Syria, in 2015 and 2016 under the slogan “wir schaffen das”–“We can handle this.”
Under new border measures, police are carrying out more checks on people crossing the border and are increasingly identifying vehicles suspected of being used in smuggling operations.
However, some commentators have expressed doubt as to whether tighter border controls are the only reason for the drop in figures from October to November.
Germany's police union said the decline was only partly due to new restrictions, and a German newspaper Die Welt noted that neighboring countries had tightened border controls in response to Berlin's actions.
Left-wing German MPs, meanwhile, argued that border controls did not solve the underlying problem, increased migration and warned they could put lives at risk asylum seekers.
“Border controls do not prevent people from needing asylum, they only make escape routes even more dangerous,” said Left Party MP Clara Bünger. .
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