Interior Minister Faeser extends border controls by at least two months
The stationary controls at the borders with Poland, the Czech Republic and Switzerland were introduced in October. The reason for this was the significant increase in the number of refugees in Germany. At the beginning of December, Faeser initially extended the controls until December 15.
The SPD politician told the "Rheinische Post" newspaper that she was convinced of the effectiveness of the border controls in the fight against people smuggling. "Our measures are working," she said. "Our fight against the unscrupulous business of people smugglers, who brutally put human lives at risk, is successful."
Since October 16, the federal police have apprehended around 120 people smugglers at the three borders with the Czech Republic, Poland and Switzerland. "Our bundle of stationary and mobile controls is important in order to curb irregular migration to Germany and relieve the burden on our municipalities," said Faeser.
Since mid-October, the federal police have detected around 9,200 unauthorized entries at the borders with the Czech Republic, Poland and Switzerland and have taken measures to prevent unauthorized entries and end unauthorized stays in around 4,370 cases, the Minister continued. "We will continue to do everything we can to ensure that the controls have as little impact as possible on the everyday lives of commuters, on trade and on travel."
However, Faeser went on to say that the protection of the EU's external borders was crucial to limiting irregular migration. The common European asylum system is needed for this. "I have also worked hard in Brussels this week to finalize the EU legislation on this now."
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Source: www.stern.de
