Germany Introduce Internal Controls at All Land Borders to Prevent Illegal Migration and Terrorism

Germany will introduce internal border controls at all land borders of the country from 16 September for 6 months to reduce the scale of illegal migration.

This is stated in a statement by the German Ministry of the Interior. The relevant order was signed by Minister Nancy Feather on 9 September. The innovations will be in effect for six months.

In addition to the temporary internal border controls already in place on the land borders with Austria, Switzerland, the Czech Republic and Poland, the German Ministry of the Interior has informed the European Commission that it is introducing similar controls on the borders with France, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Belgium and Denmark.

In addition, at all German land borders, it will be possible to return people to the place they are coming from, in accordance with European and national legislation.

‘We are strengthening internal security with concrete actions and continuing our tough line against illegal migration. We will continue to hold this line. Until we achieve robust protection of the EU's external borders through a new Common European Asylum System and other measures,’ said Nancy Feather.

In addition to illegal migration, such security measures should counter Islamist terrorism and serious cross-border crime.

Since October 2023, 30,000 people have been prevented from entering Germany at the land borders with Poland, the Czech Republic, Austria, and Switzerland alone, the Interior Ministry says.

Passengers were warned that they must have an identity document (ID card, passport) with them. This rule applies to all cross-border travel.

The scope, intensity, location and duration of border controls depend, among other things, on the situation and conditions of the local transport infrastructure, and they may vary and change, the German Interior Ministry said.