Germany records a drop in illegal border crossings, more deportations

Germany saw a drop in the number of illegal migrants as it introduced checks at all its borders, police data showed on Thursday, as separate figures showed a 22% rise in deportations in the first nine months of the year.

Preliminary statistics obtained by the dpa agency showed that from September 16 to October 6, the police detected 3,646 cases of unauthorized crossing of the land. Approximately 2,073 of them were returned at the border.

The figure was 13% less than the 3,984 people turned back at the border in the three weeks before September 16, when federal police began carrying out checks at Germany’s land borders with France, Luxembourg, Belgium, the Netherlands and Denmark.

Random checks have been in effect at the borders with Poland, the Czech Republic and Switzerland since mid-October 2023, and they were introduced at the German-Austrian border in the fall of 2015.

The data, which may suggest that Germany’s new policy has had a deterrent effect on illegal migration, comes after a parliamentary inquiry by far-left Die Linke (Left) MP Clara Bünger.

Border control, as a rule, contradicts the provisions on the free movement of people laid out in the Schengen Agreement.

However, Home Secretary Nancy Feiser has defended permanent checks at all land borders to the European Commission, saying they are necessary because of illegal migration, cross-border crime and protection against Islamist terrorists.

The police consider entry unauthorized if a foreigner tries to cross the border without a valid residence permit.

According to the German government, refusals are only allowed if someone does not request asylum or if they are subject to a temporary re-entry ban.

This applies, for example, to people who have previously been deported, or to people who have arrived from so-called safe countries of origin, if their asylum claim has already been deemed “manifestly unfounded” there.

Buenger called on Fazer to end internal border checks. “She’s not going to win a political contest over who is supposed to be better at guarding the borders,” Buenger said.

Overall, fewer illegal migrants are arriving in Europe, with Frontex, the EU’s border agency, reporting a 42% drop to around 166,000 unauthorized border crossings in the first nine months of this year.

The number of deportations increased in the first nine months of 2024

Germany’s new move comes amid a heated political debate over migration following a terror attack in the western city of Solingen in August, in which the main suspect is believed to have avoided deportation to Bulgaria.

Figures released on Thursday showed the Home Office recorded 14,706 deportations in the first nine months of the year, compared with 12,042 in the same period in 2023.

The main recipients of deportees from Germany were Georgia, North Macedonia, Austria, Albania and Serbia.

This summer, Germany also resumed deportations to Afghanistan for the first time since the Taliban’s return to power.

Interior Secretary Nancy Feiser recently said deportations to the country would continue as she explored how deportations to Syria could be arranged.