2024-08-01 19:24:56
The number of illegal migrants crossing Germany’s borders decreased slightly in the first half of the year, the federal police said, as quoted by DPA.
Police recorded 42,307 illegal crossings in the first six months of the year, compared with 45,338 in the same period last year. This represents a drop of almost 7 percent. However, the data for the first six months are not entirely indicative, because they are intermediate and do not outline the overall annual trend.
Comparison with previous months shows a significant decrease in the number of illegal entries from September 2023 to February 2024. In September last year, federal police reported 21,375 illegal crossings, followed by 20,073 in October, 7,497 in December and a drop to under 6,000 in February.
After that there is a slight increase – about 7100 in March to about 7700 in June. On the land borders with Austria, Switzerland, the Czech Republic and Poland, Interior Minister Nancy Feser ordered the introduction of physical checks in October. They continue to help curb illegal migration and more successfully combat smuggling, the government said, BTA reports.
Checks at the borders with Switzerland, the Czech Republic and Poland will be carried out until December 15, and at the border with Austria, where a similar regime was introduced already in the fall of 2015, they will remain in force until November 11.