Citing an unsustainably high level of unlawful migrants entering the country, all of whom are undocumented as a result of destroying their identity papers, Germany’s new government, through Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt has ordered border police to refuse entry to undocumented immigrants, including those claiming to be asylum seekers, unless they are pregnant women or very young children under 10 years old.
This new directive rescinds a 2015 policy that had previously allowed these individuals to enter the country.
Chancellor Friedrich Merz said Germany would ensure its tougher migration policies would be “carried out in a way that will not cause problems for our neighbours” in a joint news conference with Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk who has similarly threatened a major change on policy against migrants.
Tusk warned Merz against unilateral migration policies such as national border controls or deportations, which could leave migrants stranded on Polish territory, but Merz stressed that Europe was doing too little to combat irregular migration and this had to be tackled much more seriously Europe-wide.
“If everybody in the European Union gave the signal to those who are setting out for Europe without valid opportunities for entry that they will be turned back and immediately deported and that the routes are going to get a lot more difficult and that we are going to close them, then as a joint and comprehensive signal, it would rank as a major deterrent” Merz said.
This follows on from the UK criticism that the French are assisting the Migrants to cross the English Channel and even giving them lifejackets, rather than trying to prevent the crossings and the refusal of the Albanian Ambassador, when questioned by the UK Reform Party’s Lee Anderson MP, to answer the questions:
Why, when it is possible to get a Wizz air ticket for £32 to travel from Albania to the
UK on a visitor visa are so many Albanians choosing to pay many thousands of pounds
to illegally cross into the UK?
Why are so many claiming asylum? – After all hundreds of thousands of UK citizens go
for holidays in ALbania, quite safely, every year!
Isn’t Albania simply facilitiating this because all those crossing in this way from Albania
are Albanian Criminals who, if identified, would not be allowed into the UK?
Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk hailed a “new opening” in German-Polish relations as he welcomed Chancellor Friedrich Merz to Warsaw on Wednesday evening, saying the boost was “perhaps the most important in the history of German-Polish relations in more than 10 years.”
However, Tusk warned the new chancellor against unilateral migration policies such as national border controls or deportations, which could leave migrants stranded on Polish territory.
“There can be no impression that anyone, including Germany, would like to send any groups of migrants to Poland,” he told a news conference. “Poland will not accept this.”
Germany announced recently that it would reject undocumented migrants, including asylum-seekers, at the country’s borders (see entry below), but Tusk said the problem should be dealt with at the European Union’s outer border and called for German support.
“We must help each other to protect EU territory against illegal migration,” he said. “I will expect the new German government to cooperate fully with us on securing the EU’s external borders.”
Internally, he said it was in the interests of both Poland and Germany to maintain the EU’s free-movement Schengen Zone, adding that it would be “the worst thing if all EU countries started introducing controls on their borders.”
https://p.dw.com/p/4u4KZ
Copy link
Skip next section Germany to turn asylum-seekers away at its border
20 hours ago20 hours ago
Germany to turn asylum-seekers away at its border
Germany will turn some asylum-seekers away at its borders, new Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt said.
He added that exceptions would be made for “vulnerable groups,” including pregnant women and children.
Freshly elected Chancellor Friedrich Merz argued during the election campaign that, since Germany is surrounded by European Union member states and Switzerland, any potential asylum applicants should present their case before they reach Germany.
He said that according to EU agreements asylum-seekers must apply for protection in the first EU country they enter.