Germany is tightening controls at all of its land borders in an attempt to tackle irregular migration and protect the public from threats such as extremism. The controls, which will begin on September 16 and initially last for six months, will apply within the European Schengen zone, which normally allows for free movement.
The government has also designed a scheme enabling authorities to reject more migrants directly at German borders, although details of this controversial move remain unclear.
These restrictions are part of a series of measures Germany has taken to toughen its stance on irregular migration in recent years, following a surge in arrivals, particularly of people fleeing war and poverty in the Middle East.
The move comes as Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s government seeks to counter the rise of the far-right and conservatives, who have gained support by tapping into voter concerns about stretched public services, integration, and security.
“We are strengthening internal security and continuing our hard line against irregular migration,” said Interior Minister Nancy Faeser.
The tightening of border controls follows recent deadly knife attacks in Germany, in which the suspects were asylum seekers. These attacks have stoked concerns over immigration and fueled the rise of the far-right.
The AfD, a far-right party, recently became the first party of its kind since World War Two to win a state election in Thuringia, after campaigning heavily on the issue of migration.
Polls show that immigration is also the top concern for voters in the state of Brandenburg, which will hold elections in two weeks. Scholz and Faeser’s center-left Social Democrats are fighting to retain control of the government there, in a vote that is seen as a test of the party’s strength ahead of next year’s federal election.
“The intention of the government seems to be to show symbolically to Germans and potential migrants that the latter are no longer wanted here,” said Marcus Engler at the German Centre for Integration and Migration Research.
The tightening of border controls could test European unity, as it may lead to German authorities requesting other countries to take back substantial numbers of asylum seekers and migrants. Under EU rules, countries in the Schengen area are only allowed to introduce border checks as a last resort to avert threats to internal security or public policy.
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Austria’s Interior Minister Gerhard Karner has already stated that his country will not take in any migrants turned away by Germany at the border.
The measures may not immediately result in many more migrants being turned away at the border, but they could result in more returns to other European countries down the line, as well as acting as a deterrent, said Susan Fratzke at the Migration Policy Institute.
The number of asylum applications in Germany already fell 21.7% in the first eight months of the year, according to government statistics.
