Germany begins expanded border controls to control migration

German police will be monitoring all of the country's land borders starting on Monday, September 16.

Until then, only travelers entering the country at the eastern and southern land borders were checked. Now, for at least the next six months, northern and western borders will also be monitored. This would include border crossings with Denmark, the Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg and France.

Germany is located in the center of the Schengen Area, which comprises 29 European countries that have abolished internal border controls, with passports only required at external borders and airports.

The new border controls could lead to disruptions in the movement of people and goods. Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk has accused Germany of endangering the entire Schengen system with its comprehensive new controls.

Schengen: Controls as a 'last resort'

As a rule, internal border controls in the Schengen Area are only carried out under certain conditions. However, the member states alone decide whether these conditions have been met, and they are then required only to the notify the European Commission in Brussels.

The European Union can issue a reprimand for such border controls but has never yet done so. Rather, it generally confining itself to pointing out that border controls should remain the "last resort," as EU Commission spokesperson Anitta Hipper recently put it.

Additionally, the controls should be temporary and only last for a maximum of three years, in accordance with the recently amended Schengen Borders Code.

German Interior Minister Nancy Faeserhas justified Germany's decision by citing an overloaded asylum system and a high number of irregular migration.

Hundreds of exceptions throughout Schengen

Germany isn't alone in extending its border controls in recent years. Eight other Schengen members currently check their internal borders.

Since 2006, there have been a total of 441 notifications of control measures in the Schengen states, with France as the front runner. Since the Islamist terrorist attacks of 2015 and 2016, the Frence government has reserved the right to permanently control all land borders. These controls have been repeatedly extended, with shifting justifications such as the threat of terrorism, migration pressure, Russian espionage or major sporting events.

Germany has also been controlling its border with its southern neighbor Austria since 2015, saying that it wants to reduce the risk of terrorism and the number of asylum seekers entering the country. Austria uses the same justifications to control its borders with Slovakia, the Czech Republic, Hungary and Slovenia.

Border controls reached their peak during the COVID-19 pandemic four years ago, when almost all Central European countries attempted to combat the spread of the virus by means of passport controls and partial border closures. These efforts created long traffic jams and resentment among commuters and freight transporters.

Random checks on highways

According to the state Interior Minister of Bavaria, Joachim Herrmann, the checks between the southern German state and Austria, for example, will be limited to visual and random checks on highways. This means that not all traveler actually have to present their passports.

Instead, only vehicles that appear suspicious will be waved out of traffic. Checks on main roads are also possible, Hermann said, though not around the clock.

One German police union has complained that police do not have the staff to carry out consistent checks on side roads, saying that forces are already overstretched and 5,000 additional officers are needed to carry out the control duties.

Federal police leadership disagrees, however, and Germany's Interior Ministry insists that there are sufficient forces available.

Luxembourg's Home Affairs Minister Leon Gloden told DW that Faeser had assured him that the controls would neither interfere with traffic and everyday life, nor take place on the bridges into the country.

No entry, no asylum

Faeser wants to use the new controls to catch people attempting to enter the country without authorization. However, they can only be refused entry at the border if they do not apply for asylum. Technically speaking, they would then not enter Germany at the border with Austria, but remain in Austria, for example. According to EU rules, a formal refusal of entry is not necessary in these cases, Bavarian Interion Minister Hermann has argued.

But if a request for asylum is made at the border, the German authorities must check whether they are responsible, or if the person entering the country could have already applied for asylum in another EU country. This person could then be sent back to the country of the first asylum application or first entry into the Schengen Area — if that country agrees.

These procedures, under the EU's so-called Dublin Regulation, can often take months. Now, Faeser is demanding that queries to EU asylum databases and negotiations with the relevant member states be accelerated. To this end, asylum-seekers are to be housed close to the German border and even detained if they are deemed a flight risk. But so far, camps for this have yet to be set up.

According to the federal police, between January and July 2024, 34,000 people tried to enter Germany. Around 17,000 were denied entry directly at the border. The other half were allowed to enter and are being processed under the Dublin Regulation.

By comparison, last year, the federal police apprehended 127,000 people at the border who wanted to enter Germany without permission. A quarter were denied entry directly at the border. It is unclear how high the number of unreported attempts to enter the country is, and how many more people could have been stopped with more border controls.

Hungary gloats

Hungary, current holder of the presidency of the EU Council, issued a disdainful statement about the German border controls via its government spokesperson's office. For years, Hungary had been criticized for its tough stance against illegal migration, the statement from spokesperson Zoltan Kovacs said.

"But now, as Germany announces its plan to reintroduce internal border controls, it seems that those who once dismissed our approach have come full circle. Funny how a few years — and a migration crisis — can change minds, isn't it?"

This article was originally published in German.