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Eurocity 178 from Prague to Berlin is one for many the train of hope. When it stopped as scheduled at 8:26 a.m. at the Saxon border station in Bad Schandau, federal police officers boarded at the start and end of the train. They do random checks within a 20 minute drive to Dresden. “Refugees report themselves frequently. Most are happy when they see German federal police officers. Because then they know they have achieved their goal,” said Holger Uhlitzsch of the Federal Police Inspectorate in Dresden.

It’s been since summer number of migrants also improved rapidly in the Dresden inspection field. While there were still a good 500 in July, 1,200 came in August and about 2,400 in September – that’s the same as 2021 overall. People from Syria in particular were arrested when entering the country illegally, but so were Iraqis and Afghans. . .

“About 95 per cent of them come undocumented, most of them between the ages of 15 and 25,” reports inspection manager Rico Reuschel. The route between Prague and Dresden has become increasingly popular in recent years international transit lines Becomes.

From January to September: 228,240 illegal crossings on EU outer borders

In the process, someone got stuck refugee route recently forgotten: migrants are increasingly trying to get from Greece or Bulgaria to the EU countries of Slovenia, Austria, Czech Republic or Poland. Many then set course for Germany.

EU border protection agency Frontex recorded 228,240 illegal crossings at the EU’s external borders between January and September – a 70 percent increase over the same period last year and the highest value since 2016.

that Balkan Route came first in the report presented on Thursday. 106,396 migrants illegally took this route to the EU, an increase of 170% over the same period last year. 65,572 refugees (up 42 percent) came via the central Mediterranean, 28,873 (up 118 percent) via the eastern Mediterranean.

Austria: 5000 percent more asylum seekers from India

Serbia occupies a central position on the Balkan route. The country, a potential EU member, is seen as a gateway for refugees en route to the community. The reason for this is lax visa policies: in western capitals it is said that migrants from third countries such as Pakistan, India, Turkey, Burundi, Egypt, Tunisia or Cuba can enter Serbia and then continue their journey without a visa.

that Migration via the Balkan route has increased dramatically. We also noticed that in Austria,” Austrian Foreign Minister Alexander Schallenberg told reporters in Berlin on Thursday. “In August, there were 3,500 asylum seekers in our country from India alone, which is almost 5,000 percent more than in the same period last year. then. Many of them fly to Belgrade visa-free and then go to Austria.” Schallenberg demands: “Serbia and other Balkan countries should adapt their loose visa policies to EU standards.”

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Visa: Serbia plays a key role among Western Balkan countries

The federal government wants to stop the visa practice with gentle pressure. “First of all, it is important for the EU countries as well as Germany to talk and cooperate with the transit countries of the Western Balkans – and we are doing that. Serbia plays a key role there, but also about countries like North Macedonia, Montenegro or Bosnia-Herzegovina,” Manuel Sarrazin (Green), the Federal Government’s special representative for the Western Balkans, told our editorial team.

“We have been in talks with the government in Belgrade for some time that visa-free entry options from third countries from Asia, Africa or Latin America, which are used for onward travel to the EU, should be limited,” Sarrazin said. Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić announced in early October that the Serbian visa regime would take effect at the end of the year. European standard to adjust. “This is an important step because it will help reduce transit through Serbia.”

Refugee route: Control on border with Austria to be extended

Federal Home Secretary Nancy Faeser (SPD) is also concerned about the increasing number of refugees traveling through the Balkan routes. On Germany’s borders and on the EU’s external borders, “the pressure is currently mounting,” he stressed. “That’s why we must ensure clear boundaries.”

that Control on the border with Austria because it had to be extended beyond November half a year. At the border with the Czech Republic, federal police are increasingly carrying out checks as part of the veil hunt. In addition, talks have resulted in the Czech Republic and Austria setting up border controls with Slovakia.

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Interior Minister Faeser: Migrants accommodation is “humanitarian tour de force”

The increase in immigration through the Balkans is also reflected in the increasing number of asylum seekers. According to the Federal Office for Migration and Refugees, 134,908 people applied for asylum in Germany for the first time between January and the end of September. This is about a third more than the same period last year.

The numbers are well below levels at the time of the 2015/16 refugee crisis. Moreover, their numbers are relatively small compared to the approximately 1.003 million people who fled to Germany because of the Ukraine war. Still coming Minister of the Interior Faeser came to the conclusion: the accommodation of migrants was a “humanitarian tour de force” – the longer the war lasted, the more difficult it was to organize it.

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This article first appeared on morgenpost.de.