Strain on German Police grows as border checks intensify

Almost two weeks after the introduction of stricter controls at German borders, there are discussions about the strain on police forces. The German Police Union (GdP) warned on Monday of a personnel overload and called for a clear time limit. “The police can only maintain the intensive controls for a few more weeks,” said the chairman of the federal police section of the union, Andreas Roßkopf, to the Funke newspapers. The Federal Ministry of the Interior, on the other hand, emphasized that the federal police could cope with such large-scale situations “for a longer period of time”.

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Federal Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt (CSU) had ordered increased controls at German land borders shortly after taking office at the beginning of May. This should “gradually increase” the number of returns. One week after the start of the measures, Dobrindt gave a satisfied initial assessment: the tightened border controls had led to more rejections, he said.

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According to a spokesperson for the Federal Ministry of the Interior, 11,000 police officers are currently deployed at the borders. The number of officers is to be increased “step by step to 14,000”, he said on Monday. An exact timetable for this has not yet been set. The spokesman called the border controls a “major feat of strength for the federal police”. “Of course, we now have to take a very close look at how this can be handled in the long term for the colleagues who are on duty - not only at the borders but also at train stations, airports and many other places,” the spokesperson continued. “The federal police are currently in the process of drawing up corresponding plans.”

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Trade unionist Roßkopf emphasized that the current controls can only be maintained “because duty rosters have been changed, the training of the units is currently on hold and the reduction of overtime has been halted”. At the same time, Roßkopf emphasized that the police union stands behind the efforts of politicians to “reduce irregular migration to Germany with border controls by the federal police”.

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The Greens also warned that the police would be overstretched by the increased border controls. The shifting of forces would also “lead to less security elsewhere”, said party leader Franziska Brantner. The police forces “will be lacking at the main train stations, at the airports and other crime hotspots”, she emphasized. “The question is what is really more effective for our security in the end.”

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However, SPD interior affairs expert Lars Castellucci also saw other risks in Dobrindt's approach. “With stricter border controls and uncoordinated rejections, including of asylum seekers, we run the risk that our European neighbors will abandon the common course of asylum reform in Europe and rely on national measures,” Castellucci told the Funke newspapers.

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CSU leader Markus Söder said that the stricter border controls would take place “in agreement with our European partners”. There is now “a completely new border regime in Germany”, said the Bavarian Minister President on Monday in Munich after a meeting of the CSU executive committee. From the first day of the new federal government, “the phase has been restored as it was before 2015”, he emphasized.
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CDU Secretary General Carsten Linnemann spoke of a “right signal to the world” that the controls would be increased. However, these are only a small step, a much bigger one would be agreements with third countries to manage migration.

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According to a media report, the German government is now planning to deport refugees back to Greece, which has not been done for a long time due to the questionable human rights situation in the Greek asylum system. The new practice affects refugees who are already registered as asylum seekers in Greece. The plan also provides for benefits to be cut and withdrawn if those affected do not leave Germany despite being asked to do so. According to the "Süddeutsche Zeitung", this emerges from a letter sent by the Federal Ministry of the Interior to the federal states at the beginning of May.