The government responded to a question from the AfD party in the Bundestag that, according to data from the Federal Office for Migration and Refugees, 1,230 people who applied for asylum in Germany between January 2021 and May 2023 received a visa issued by the Polish authorities.
In 2021, it was 273 people, in 2022, 606 people, and this year, from January to May 2023, 351 people.
“The German government should put more pressure on the government in Warsaw.”
– Police are arresting more and more illegal immigrants in the border area with Poland. Leif-Erik Holm, deputy head of the Alternative for Germany parliamentary group, said suspicions have now been confirmed that the migrants came to Europe on visas issued by Polish authorities to apply for asylum in Germany.
– Holm said that the German government should put more pressure on the government in Warsaw to return asylum seekers who came to Germany via Poland. – Now there must finally be consistent border controls to prevent Polish authorities from simply letting migrants pass.
Prime Minister of Saxony: The situation is tragic
In fact, transfers to Poland almost never take place. In total, only 211 people were deported to Poland in the first half of 2023, according to the federal government’s response to a question from the left in the Bundestag, including 136 Polish citizens and the remaining 75 citizens from other countries. In 2022, 631 people were deported to Poland from Germany, including 270 Poles.
These low numbers of people returned contrast with the much larger number of unauthorized entries across the Polish-German border. This year, federal police have detected more than 18,000 cases there. the people. It should be noted that only a portion of unauthorized entries are detected by the police, as many people arrive by car or train, which is not controlled.
Saxony Prime Minister Michael Kretschmer (CDU) on Sunday once again called on the federal government to impose firm border controls on the state’s eastern border. “The situation is tragic,” he told ARD TV.
Additional border control measures
So far, fixed federal police inspections have only taken place in the section bordering Austria. Federal Interior Minister Nancy Wieser (SPD) indicated that such checks may also appear at the border with Poland. – What matters to me now is to be practical. From my point of view, this is a way to combat migrant smuggling more aggressively,” she said when asked whether there would be short-term fixed border controls on the borders with Poland and the Czech Republic.
Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) also said in Nuremberg at the weekend that depending on the current situation, “it may be necessary to impose border controls, for example on the border with Poland.”
The German Interior Ministry reported that the minister is currently in talks with Poland and the Czech Republic about possible “additional border control measures.” Talks were held over the weekend with the Czech Interior Minister. The goal is to stop the smuggling of these people.