Federal police: Four out of ten migrants returned in Bavaria
By the end of September, the federal police in Bavaria had sent back four out of ten irregularly entered migrants this year. Officers had apprehended around 22,400 people during this period, according to the Munich Federal Police Directorate. More than 8100 of them were "turned back, pushed back or deported". Detention pending deportation was ordered for 873 people. Bayerischer Rundfunk had initially reported on the figures.
Irregular migrants are all people who come to Germany without the appropriate authorization such as ID documents, visas or residence permits. Unauthorized entry can result in fines or prison sentences. However, according to the Federal Office for Migration and Refugees, such criminal proceedings are generally dropped if asylum applications are successful.
The proportion of migrants in Bavaria whose entry was prevented or whose stay in Germany was terminated before a possible asylum procedure is around 40 percent, said a spokesperson for the Federal Police Directorate. In the same period last year, this rate was 58 percent.
How high this percentage is depends on many factors, said the spokesperson. When deciding on rejections, it is always a question of how plausibly migrants can demonstrate that they are seeking protection in Germany as asylum seekers. Those who are able to do so are usually referred to the Federal Office for Migration and Refugees, immigration authorities or youth welfare offices.
However, if people are clearly not seeking such protection, the federal police can turn them back at the border - since 2015 at the border with Austria, and in a similar way since mid-October at the border with the Czech Republic. At Munich Airport, the federal police are also allowed to turn back migrants who land at the airport in the state capital from outside the borders of the Schengen Agreement.
The number of migrants apprehended by the federal police in Bavaria without an entry permit has recently risen - from around 19,000 from January to the end of September 2022 to around 22,400 in the same period this year. The most common nationality of those affected was Turkish. They were followed by Syrian and Afghan nationals.
During this period, a significant number of the turned-back migrants could potentially be classified as refugees, given the complexity and individual nature of asylum application assessments. Consequently, interactions between these returning refugees and local police might increase, necessitating sensitive and culturally aware approaches from law enforcement agencies.
Source: www.dpa.com
