Tuesday, October 19, 2021
Illegal migration through Belarus
Seehofer proposes border patrols to Poland
The many illegal entries on the migration route via Belarus are fueling a debate about controls at the border with Poland. The Federal Minister of the Interior tries another proposal. The federal states are preparing for increasing numbers of refugees.
Federal Interior Minister Horst Seehofer wants to curb the many unauthorized entries into Germany via the Belarus route with reinforced German-Polish patrols. The CSU politician wrote to his colleague Mariusz Kaminski in Warsaw that these should take place primarily on Polish territory and would be below the threshold of border controls. The letter has been submitted to the German Press Agency. Many federal states are now increasing their asylum accommodation to accommodate newcomers.
Since the summer, around 5,000 people from Iraq, Syria and other crisis areas had been found on the eastern border who came to Germany illegally via Belarus and Poland. From the point of view of the European Union, behind this is the Belarusian ruler Alexander Lukashenko. In response to EU sanctions, the latter had declared that he would no longer stop migrants destined for the EU. Foreign Minister Heiko Maas calls Lukashenko the “head of a state smuggling ring”.
The many entries also harbor conflict with Poland. Because actually the EU country should register the new arrivals and allow them an asylum procedure – but in many cases this does not happen. Instead, people travel on to Germany – often with the help of smugglers. There are therefore calls to temporarily reintroduce controls at the border with Poland – an EU internal border where travel is usually free. Seehofer’s proposal would be to avoid these border controls, but still stop the migrants on Polish territory.
He wrote to Poland’s Interior Minister Kaminski: “In view of the common challenges, I think it makes sense that our two border protection authorities noticeably reinforce their tried and tested joint patrols along the German-Polish border – below the threshold of a temporary reintroduction of internal border controls.” These strips should “primarily be used on Polish territory, of course under the direction of Polish border guards”.
Germany is sending more migrants back to Poland
Seehofer wants to explain possible steps against illegal migration in the federal cabinet on Wednesday. Germany is already increasingly sending migrants arriving from Belarus via Poland back to the neighboring country. According to the Federal Ministry of the Interior, 104 and 108 requests for redemption were submitted by German authorities in August and September. In the two months, Poland agreed to return in 128 cases. In July there were only 37 return requests and commitments. Previously, the number hovered around 65 per month.
Poland, for its part, is massively expanding its border protection with neighboring Belarus in view of the sustained increase in the number of refugees and is increasingly using the military. The Ministry of Defense in Warsaw announced that almost 6,000 soldiers are currently deployed in the border area, twice as many as at the weekend. The soldiers supported the border police and tried to prevent illegal border crossings, said Defense Minister Mariusz Błaszczak. According to the border guards, there were 612 illegal entries from Belarus on Monday alone.
Federal states are increasing refugee accommodation
Meanwhile, several federal states are preparing for increasing numbers of refugees – because of the new route, but also because the numbers in 2020 were unusually low due to Corona. According to official information, the state of Berlin wants to open five accommodations with a total of 1200 places within four weeks. Around 5,000 newcomers were registered there by the end of September, which is more than in the entire previous year (4,589).
Brandenburg registered 2,000 people in the initial reception in October alone, but according to the Interior Ministry it still has capacity. In Saxony there were 5539 asylum seekers by the end of September – in October there were already around 1000. Hesse and Baden-Württemberg are also seeing significantly more asylum seekers and want to increase their capacities.