Federal Minister of the Interior Alexander Dobrindt (CSU) has defended the tightening of migration policy. Since the start of the black-red coalition, 15,000 people have been rejected at Germany's borders, he said on Thursday during the budget debate in the Bundestag.
Additionally, 4,000 people wanted by arrest warrant have been apprehended and 750 smugglers have been arrested. For "illegal migration," the numbers in both August and September have decreased by 60 percent compared to the same months last year. Dobrindt had ordered increased checks and rejections at all nine of Germany's land borders with neighboring countries on May 7. So-called vulnerable groups, such as children and pregnant women, are exempt.
"This is how we will continue," the minister announced. The decrease in unauthorized entries benefits not only Germany but all of Europe. "That is why we are consistently continuing on this path." He has therefore once again invited his European ministerial colleagues to a meeting. According to Dobrindt, the meeting is to discuss the "sharpening and hardening" of the Common European Asylum System (CEAS). This also includes "innovative solutions" like return centers for deportees in third countries.
A first meeting with several EU interior ministers took place in mid-July on the Zugspitze summit at the invitation of the CSU politician. A second one is planned for October 4 in Munich.
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