Returns to German borders significantly increased significantly

Since the tightening of border controls in Germany a week ago, the number of rejections has increased by almost half according to the German Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt.

In the past seven days, the federal police rejected 739 people at the border, as Dobrindt said when visiting the control point on Autobahn 93 at the Bavarian-Austrian border. That was 45 percent more than in the previous week with 511 rejections.

Asylum seekers were also among the rejected: 32 of 51 people who expressed an asylum application were rejected, said Dobrindt.

The minister’s decree came a week ago

Dobrindt had intensified border controls on Wednesday last week – a few hours after taking office as Federal Minister of the Interior. At the same time, the Christian Democrat ordered that in the future should Asylum seekers are also rejected at the border can. However, this should not apply to pregnant women, children and other relatives of vulnerable groups.

Before that, only people who did not apply asylum, as well as foreigners who had been proven with a temporary entry ban, for example due to an earlier deportation, were rejected.

Checks directly at the border are a prerequisite for rejection. Dobrindt’s predecessor Nancy Faeser had gradually ordered this for all border sections. At the border with Austria there are controls that have to be registered and justified by the EU Commission, including the A93 since autumn 2015.