Interior Minister Seehofer criticizes Belarus for using “migrants as political weapons”.
The border with Poland should remain open, but something could change for Greece.
Berlin - Federal Interior Minister Horst Seehofer (CSU) wants to take action against the onward journey of refugees arriving via Belarus to Germany through increased cooperation with Poland and the EU.
Poland should be offered "every support to efficiently implement external border protection within the framework of the applicable law," said Seehofer in a report at the Federal Cabinet meeting on Wednesday.
With the EU, he wants to get other countries in the Middle East and Africa to stop flights with refugees to Belarus.
Migration at the German-Polish border: "Numbers are steadily increasing"
According to AFP information in Seehofer's report, "more than 5700 refugees and migrants have already been identified on the German-Polish border in the course of intensified internal border search measures, including with visas for and entry stamps from Belarus". “The numbers are rising steadily.” On the weekend, federal police officers took almost 500 illegally entered or smuggled migrants into custody. At the moment, "around 15,000 migrants in Belarus are waiting to continue their journey west".
From January to September there is an "access of asylum seekers to the Federal Republic of Germany of around 80,000", said Seehofer in a press conference on Wednesday (August 20).
Most of them come from Syria, Afghanistan, Iraq and, most recently, increasingly from Turkey.
The numbers are within a normal range, explained Seehofer.
Comparisons with 2015 and 2016 would be impossible.
"That was a completely different order of magnitude."
Seehofer accuses Belarus of “state-organized or at least supported smuggling activities”
The German government and the EU are accusing Belarusian ruler Alexander Lukashenko of deliberately smuggling refugees from the Middle East and Africa into the EU. The motive is therefore retaliation for European sanctions directed against human rights violations in Belarus. The cabinet report now calls for "decisive action against the instrumentalization of migration by Belarus".
At the end of May, Lukashenko announced in response to stricter Western sanctions against his country that Minsk would no longer prevent migrants from continuing to travel to the EU.
Since then, reports of attempted irregular border crossings at the EU's external borders with Belarus and at the German-Polish border have increased.
Seehofer criticizes Lukashenko for this course: "In Belarus and through Belarus there is state-organized or at least supported smuggling activity," he said.
Seehofer emphasized that the German government is of the opinion that ultimately “the key to solving the problem lies in Moscow”.
Russia is a close ally of Belarus, which is economically heavily dependent on Moscow.
Seehofer attacks Belarus: "This is a form of hybrid threat"
With European partners, Germany has already achieved that flights from Iraq have been suspended, explained Seehofer. It should be noted, however, "that the regime in Belarus is continuously expanding the list of states whose citizens can enter without a visa". Seehofer named Iran, Pakistan, South Africa, Egypt and Jordan. “It's a form of hybrid threat that uses migrants as a political weapon. This is a big problem that we can only solve together. "
Therefore, Seehofer and the Ministry of the Interior want to coordinate intensively with Poland and support the neighboring country.
"A closure of the border - we touched on briefly today - is not intended by anyone and would also be legally very, very questionable." The cabinet was "completely in agreement" about the fact that the borders should remain open.
Seehofer emphasized that Poland had already taken “very strong initiatives” to prevent refugees from entering Belarus.
The chairman of the Federal Police Union, Heiko Teggatz, had called for at least temporary controls a few days ago and justified this in a letter to Seehofer with an "explosive" increase in the number of arrests of illegally arriving migrants.
Horst Seehofer: Dublin procedure does not work satisfactorily - temporary border controls in Greece are being examined
The so-called Dublin procedure, according to which a person seeking protection must submit an application in the EU country where he was first registered by the authorities, does not work satisfactorily, said Seehofer.
Accordingly, in the first nine months of this year, only one asylum seeker was transferred from Germany to the responsible EU member state Greece - with over 7,100 requests for takeover.
“It can't stay that way,” said Seehofer.
According to the Dublin rules, only 158 people were brought to Italy with over 4,000 inquiries from the German side.
In the case of Greece, the living conditions for asylum seekers usually prevent return. Because German courts have found that those seeking protection are threatened with homelessness and hardship. The Federal Ministry of the Interior is therefore urging the Greek government to accept German support for the accommodation and care of refugees in Greece and to implement a corresponding declaration of intent. Seehofer had "negotiated hard" with his Greek colleague, and an answer was still pending on Wednesday afternoon.
The Interior Ministry is also considering temporary border controls when arriving from Greece by plane.
Because part of the so-called secondary migration from Greece to Germany takes place by air.
Seehofer said: "That would be a very effective measure, which I will also take if we do not come to a joint approach with Greece."
(Dpa / AFP / as)
