Germany expands border controls due to risk of irregular migration and extremism

(Patria) - The German government ordered temporary controls at all land borders on Monday, expanding checks it already has at some borders, saying it responded to irregular migration and protected the country from extremist threats, AP reported.

"We are strengthening our internal security through concrete action and continuing our firm stance against irregular migration," Interior Minister Nancy Faeser said at a press conference.

The ministry said it notified the European Union on Sunday of the order to establish border controls at land borders with France, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Belgium and Denmark for a period of six months, which will take effect from September 16. This adds to existing restrictions at land borders with Poland, the Czech Republic, Austria and Switzerland.

"Until we achieve strong protection of the EU's external borders with a new common European asylum system, we must further increase controls at our national borders," Faeser said.

She noted that Germany has already turned away more than 30,000 people seeking to cross its borders since last October.

"This has further limited irregular migration and protected against acute dangers posed by Islamist terrorism and serious crime. We are doing everything we can to better protect people in our country from this," she said.

The order comes as Chancellor Olaf Scholz's coalition government faces pressure to take a tougher stance on irregular migration.

Last month, a deadly knife attack in Solingen killed three people. The perpetrator was a Syrian asylum seeker who claimed to be inspired by the Islamic State group. In Munich, police last week exchanged fire with an armed attacker near the Israeli consulate, fatally wounding him. Authorities said they believe he was planning an attack on the consulate on the 52nd anniversary of the attack at the 1972 Munich Olympics.

Germany has accepted a large number of refugees from the Middle East over the past decade, but a political backlash is now developing, with growing support for the far-right party. That party, Alternative for Germany, won its first regional elections earlier this month in Thuringia and performed well in another state, Saxony.

Scholz promised in June that the country would again begin deporting criminals from Afghanistan and Syria after a police officer was killed and four people were wounded in a knife attack by an Afghan immigrant.

Germany deported Afghan nationals to their homeland on August 30, the first time since August 2021, when the Taliban returned to power. The government described 28 Afghan nationals as convicted criminals but did not clarify what crimes they committed. The number of people who applied for asylum in Germany last year rose to more than 350,000, an increase of just over 50% compared to the year before. The largest number of asylum seekers came from Syria, followed by Turks and Afghans.