In the past few months, the federal police have once again identified significantly more illegal entries into Germany. This emerges from a confidential situation paper by German security authorities that is available to WELT AM SONNTAG. In Austria, the situation is already comparable to that of 2015. At that time, a particularly large number of migrants traveled to Europe.
While 4,400 people entered the Federal Republic illegally in January, these numbers rose steadily month by month to 6,900 people in July. In total, 36,100 unauthorized entries have already been identified in the first half of this year. This is an increase of 47 percent compared to the previous year.
A spokeswoman for the Interior Ministry said that most people who travel to Germany illegally come to Germany via the Balkan region. Syrian, Afghan, Turkish, Iraqi and Tunisian nationals are the most common. “The increasing numbers are also due to further easing of the pandemic-related travel restrictions in Europe,” the Ministry of the Interior said.
In security circles, one does not expect that these numbers will decrease again in the foreseeable future. In addition, the actual number of illegal entries into Europe is likely to be higher because checks at the borders are only random.
The numbers are also increasing at the EU’s external borders. According to an internal analysis by the European Border and Coast Guard Agency (Frontex), which is also available to WELT AM SONNTAG, a total of almost 35,000 unauthorized border crossings at the EU and Schengen external borders were recorded in July. The numbers were thus significantly higher than those of the previous months (June: 29,000) and also higher than the same month of the previous year (20,700). The number of asylum applications has also increased. According to the EU asylum agency EUAA, around 406,000 asylum applications were received in the EU states, Norway and Switzerland (“EU”) in the first half of 2022. Compared to the same period last year, this is an increase of 68 percent.
The confidential situation paper by the German security authorities states that the route via the western Balkans and the central Mediterranean are currently the focal points of migration movements. In addition, crossings from Turkey to Italy are becoming increasingly important. In Germany, the national borders with Austria and the Czech Republic are particularly affected.
The letter points out that Austria is currently facing the highest number of migrants and asylum seekers since 2015. It goes on to say that the migratory pressure there will not ease in the coming weeks. Rather, it is to be expected that the number will continue to rise.
The situation is similar on the border with the Czech Republic, where the number of illegal migrants has recently also increased enormously. The Czech police have informed the German authorities that Slovakia is currently not taking back people who have entered the Czech Republic without permission. As a result, migrants who are apprehended in the Czech Republic but do not apply for protection are asked to leave the country by the police, but are then released again. The refugees would then continue their journey. If the situation does not improve, the Czech Interior Ministry wants to reintroduce border controls with Slovakia, the report goes on to say.
Police officers reported to this newspaper that refugees from Syria and Afghanistan are currently traveling to Germany particularly often by train. This could be an indication that people are brought to Europe with sluice gates and then travel on alone, since public transport is considerably cheaper than sluice gates to the destination country.
