Germany to Control Its Land Borders to Combat Extremism

The German government announced that it will control all of its land borders for six months to protect the country against threats of extremism and illegal immigration. Nancy Faeser, the German Interior Minister, stated on Monday, September 9, in a press conference: "We are strengthening our internal security through specific measures and will continue to take a firm stance against illegal immigration." The German Ministry of the Interior communicated the order for border control at land borders with France, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Belgium, and Denmark to the European Union yesterday. This border control will begin on September 16. This new order will add to the existing restrictions at land borders with Poland, the Czech Republic, Austria, and Switzerland. Faeser said, "Until we achieve strong protection of the EU's external borders through a new common asylum system at the European level, we must increase controls at our national borders even further." The German government deported 28 Afghan asylum seekers with criminal records. According to her, Germany has prevented the entry of more than 30,000 people who sought to cross its borders since last October. The German Interior Minister stated, "This has helped further limit illegal immigration and protect against acute dangers posed by extremist Islamism and serious crimes. We will do everything we can to better protect our people against these phenomena." This order comes at a time when Olaf Scholz's coalition government is facing pressure to adopt a tougher stance on illegal immigration. Last month, a deadly knife attack in the city of Solingen resulted in three deaths. The attacker was a Syrian asylum seeker who claimed to be inspired by the Islamic State group. Recently, the German police shot and killed an armed man near the Israeli consulate in Munich. According to German officials, the assailant intended to attack the consulate on the 52nd anniversary of the 1972 Munich Olympics attack. Germany has accepted a large number of refugees from the Middle East over the past decade, but now, with increasing support from citizens for a far-right party, political reactions to immigration in the country are rising. This party, the "Alternative for Germany," achieved a majority for the first time earlier this month in the state of Thuringia and had a strong showing in another state, Saxony. In June, following a knife attack by an Afghan migrant that resulted in the death of a police officer and injuries to four others, the German Chancellor promised that the country would resume deportations of criminals to Afghanistan and Syria. Following these recent attacks, Germany deported 28 Afghan nationals with criminal records back to their country on August 30. This was the first deportation since August 2021, when the Taliban returned to power in Afghanistan. The number of asylum seekers in Germany increased to over 350,000 last year, which is a little over a 50 percent increase compared to the previous year. The largest number of refugees came from Syria, followed by Turkish and Afghan citizens.