German Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt on Thursday said the country will extend its current border checks and seek to deport more people who are not legally allowed to reside in Germany.
"We will continue to maintain border checks," Dobrindt said on the podcast "Table.Today." He added that there would be not only checks, but also people turned away at the border.
Germany intensified previously sporadic checks at its external borders on May 8 through an order by Dobrindt, shortly after the new conservative-led coalition government took power. He had also ordered irregular migrants to be turned away at the border even if they apply for asylum – a policy which is controversial in Germany.
This move has drawn significant criticism from some neighbouring countries. Germany is part of the Schengen Area, which is designed to have open borders.
Deportations to Afghanistan and Syria
Further deportations are also being planned.
"We are working on organizing additional deportation flights to Afghanistan and also to Syria," the interior minister said. He stated that this was "absolutely necessary" to ensure that people — starting with criminals — who cannot and should not remain in Germany are returned to their home countries.
In mid-July, the government deported 81 Afghan criminals back to Afghanistan using a chartered plane. This was only the second flight of its kind since the Islamist Taliban retook power in August 2021.
In their coalition agreement, the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) and its Bavarian sister party, the Christian Social Union (CSU), along with the Social Democratic (SPD) junior partner agreed to deport people not only to Afghanistan but also to Syria.
Since the start of the civil war in Syria in 2011, hundreds of thousands of Syrians have fled to Germany. Even after the fall of longtime ruler Bashar al-Assad, the security situation in Syria has remained precarious.
Source: www.dailyfinland.fi
