Bundestag – Frankfurt (Oder) – Polish border: Union politicians for more control – politics

Posted On: May 8, 2023

Frankfurt/Oder (dpa) – Domestic politicians from the Union faction have spoken out in favor of internal border controls on other parts of the border. There are currently stationary and mobile border controls only on the land border with Austria. “I think there is no other way to control migration,” said the deputy chairman of the parliamentary group, Andrea Lindholz (CSU), on Monday after a visit to the German-Polish border and to the Brandenburg state initial reception center in Eisenhüttenstadt.

In addition to the border section with Poland, internal border controls are also needed on the border with Switzerland, said the parliamentary group’s domestic policy spokesman, Alexander Throm (CDU).

Unlike asylum seekers from Syria and Afghanistan, people from African countries are often denied protection status, said Brandenburg Interior Minister Michael Stübgen (CDU). However, their deportation usually fails due to a lack of cooperation from the country of origin. “As a federal state, we don’t have a foreign policy mandate, so we can’t change anything about that.” Here the federal government had to rely on “hard diplomacy” and link withdrawal issues to visa and customs issues and the provision of assistance.

“The federal police are doing a very good job here, but ultimately there is no picture of where those who are registered here end up staying,” Lindholz said of the registration of people who entered Frankfurt an der Oder without permission. Overall, the “lack of control” in migration policy is to be complained about.

In the case of people who, after being registered by the federal police, did not report to the initial reception center in Eisenhüttenstadt, which is nearly 30 kilometers away, it is not known whether they had traveled to another country or were still in Germany. The latter will only be noticed if one is applying for state benefits.

It is also unsatisfactory that age information from asylum seekers claiming to be minors is usually received without verification. Lindholz also criticized the fact that “aggressive or flagrant behavior” during the survey was reported to the Federal Criminal Police Office, but not to the Federal Office for Migration and Refugees (Bamf), which is in charge of asylum procedures.

Federal police reported to deputies that between 30 and 40 unauthorized entries were detected in Frankfurt every day. Most of those who arrive come to Poland via Russia and Belarus, including people from Syria, Afghanistan and Yemen, but also from India and Sri Lanka.

Poland has built a fence on the border with Belarus. However, from the Belarusian state, migrants receive support when crossing the border – such as ladders to climb over the fence or pointers on where the border might be easier to cross.

Stübgen said an alternative to Dublin’s poorly functioning system of returning asylum seekers to the country responsible for their asylum application urgently needed to be found at the EU level. Many who were sent back to Poland this way returned after a day.

The head of Brandenburg’s initial admissions facility, Olaf Jansen, said that about 55 percent of the state’s 4,900 places are currently occupied. As there are usually more new arrivals in the summer months, further container building planned for accommodation is urgently needed.