Germany expands border controls to curb illegal migration and risk of extremism

BERLIN — The German government on Monday ordered temporary controls at all land borders, expanding controls already in place at some borders to combat illegal migration and protect the country from threats from extremists.

“We are strengthening our internal security through concrete actions and continuing our firm stance against illegal migration,” Interior Minister Nancy Faeser told a press conference.

The ministry said it notified the European Union on Monday of an order to establish border controls at land borders with France, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Belgium and Denmark for a period of six months. They will begin next week, on September 16.

This is in addition to the restrictions already in force at the land borders with Poland, the Czech Republic, Austria and Switzerland.

“Until we achieve strong protection of the EU’s external borders through a new Common European Asylum System, we need to further increase controls at our national borders,” Faeser said.

She noted that since October last year, Germany has recorded more than 30,000 refusals of entry for people seeking to cross the border.

“This served to further curb illegal migration and protect against the serious threats of Islamist terrorism and serious crime. We are doing everything we can to better protect people in our country from this,” she said.

The decision comes as Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s coalition government faces pressure to take a tougher stance on illegal migration.

Last month, three people were killed in a deadly stabbing attack in Soligen by a Syrian asylum seeker who claimed he was inspired by the Islamic State group.

More recently, Munich police exchanged fire with a gunman near the Israeli consulate last week, fatally wounding him. Authorities say they believe he was planning an attack on the consulate on the 52nd anniversary of the 1972 Munich Olympics attack.

Germany has taken in large numbers of refugees from the Middle East over the past decade, but a political backlash is now growing, with support for a far-right party growing. That party, Alternative for Germany, won its first state election earlier this month in Thuringia and had a strong showing in another state, Saxony.

In June, Scholz announced that the country would again begin deporting criminals from Afghanistan and Syria after an Afghan migrant stabbed one policeman to death and injured four others.

Germany deported Afghan nationals to their homeland on Aug. 30 for the first time since August 2021, when the Taliban returned to power. The government described the 28 Afghan nationals as convicted criminals but did not say what crimes they had committed.

The number of asylum seekers in Germany rose to more than 350,000 last year, an increase of just over 50% compared to the previous year. Most asylum seekers came from Syria, followed by Turkey and Afghans.