The Federal Police reported that they rejected 9,097 people at German borders in the first quarter of this year. This information was revealed in the background of the federal government’s response to an inquiry submitted by the Green Party, as reported by the “Tagesspiegel”.
According to these figures, during the temporarily implemented border controls, 7,176 individuals were turned away. The majority of these rejections occurred at the border with France (1,690), followed by Austria (1,397) and Poland (1,250). The government emphasized that these are preliminary figures. These statistics are compared to the previous year, when a total of 42,215 people were rejected, with 9,273 of those refusals happening in the first quarter.
However, Marcel Emmerich, the Greens’ domestic affairs spokesman, criticized the government’s actions, stating that “stationary border controls and rejections are not effective nor legal”. He warned that such measures harm Europe and put financial strain on the economy, potentially tying up thousands of police officers at checkpoints. Emmerich added that especially during an economic crisis, these controls negatively impact freight carriers and supply chains, threatening the smooth movement of goods.
He criticized the government, suggesting that the administration, represented by Dobrindt, presents the controls as a matter of security while concealing the reality that police personnel are actually needed in stations, airports, and for combating serious crime.
Furthermore, Emmerich noted that while there is no court confirming the administration’s approach, numerous decisions have been issued declaring their actions illegal. Calling the adherence to this policy “a refusal to face reality” he stated that the Interior Minister persists in speaking only of isolated incidents. He labeled the nationwide controls as “symbol politics” that cost millions but fail to solve any real problem, demanding that the border blocks be ended and the illegal rejections stopped.