As of: March 5, 2024, 5:55 p.m
By: Martin Schullerus
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Proud host with a prominent guest speaker: JU chairman Alexander Löher (l.) welcomed Bavaria's Interior Minister Joachim Herrmann at the Neurieder Gasthof Lorber.
© Dagmar Rutt
The Junge Union Neuried achieved a coup with its discussion evening on Monday on the subject of migration and border security: in the crowded Gasthof Lorber, Bavaria's Interior Minister Joachim Herrmann personally gave the guest lecture and answered questions.
Gräfelfing -
"How did they do that?" In the packed Gasthof Lorber, which had opened especially for this occasion on Monday, there was respectful whispering: How could the local CSU youth organization under chairman Alexander Löher convince the Minister of the Interior to come here to talk first hand about border security and migration?
It was the only question that Joachim Herrmann left unanswered that evening; he simply said: “I always like to support the Junge Union and am happy that there is something going on here in Neuried.” The tandem of person and topic certainly had one The attraction was that guests came from all over Würmtal - and the average age was well above the JU norm.
Joachim Herrmann had time with him - he stayed for more than two hours - and was in a good mood and seemed to be enjoying the home game with friends.
Nevertheless, the topic required differentiation and a certain seriousness, and the Minister of State demonstrated both.
He pointed out that in the spirit of broad political responsibility, in addition to internal security, issues such as education, hospitals, care and childcare were also important.
However: “What sets us apart from some other federal states and parties: Here, internal security is not a fifth wheel on the car.” It is not for nothing that Bavaria is “the safest of all 16 federal states.”
The key to this is a coherent and consistent approach from the government, authorities and police.
“It's worth making an effort for internal security - investing in the police and giving it a high priority.
And we stand behind our police and support them.” For decades, the motto in Bavaria has been that squatting houses, which constitute trespassing, would never be tolerated for longer than 24 hours.
Joachim Herrmann: “So there is not a single squatted house in Bavaria.” Of course, that was met with applause.
Joachim Herrmann acknowledged both the Schengen Agreement and border controls.
That is not a contradiction.
A strong state must secure its borders and have control over who enters.
That's why it was right that six years ago Prime Minister Markus Söder introduced the Bavarian border police to support the federal police - "despite all the cries of murder."
Result: In 2023 alone, the Bavarian border police (excluding federal colleagues) processed 54,800 cases in the course of border controls and veil searches.
There were 19,000 search hits: people wanted with arrest warrants, vehicles that were on the wanted list, weapons, explosives, drugs and fake passports were taken out of circulation and illegal entry was prevented.
Herrmann: “So it’s not just about migration, but also about curbing crime.”
This also largely includes organized crime.
Last year, the Bavarian border police arrested 360 smugglers.
“They treat the people who confide in them inhumanely.
We have to put an end to these gangs.” The expansion of border controls beyond Bavaria, along the Polish border, has also proven successful;
The number of refugees entering the country illegally has “decreased significantly”.
However, according to figures from the Federal Office for Migration and Refugees, two thirds of the applicants had not previously been registered in another European country.
This raises the question of the Schengen agreement.
When it started over 20 years ago, it was “a great thing”.
The participants at the time, Germany, France and the Benelux countries, had waived controls at the internal borders - but in return had agreed on strict controls at the external borders.
Today, when “almost all 27 EU states” belong to Schengen, things are different.
“No one has come to us with a parachute yet,” says Joachim Herrmann.
In other words: All refugees or migrants traveled through at least one, many through four or five Schengen participating countries - uncontrolled and unmolested to get to Germany.
Conclusion of the Interior Minister: “We are not questioning Schengen with our border controls, but rather the countries that are unable or unwilling to fulfill their signature under the Schengen Treaty.” Overall, there is a “completely absurd development” in Germany today “that thousands would throw away their passports because then the process would run better.
It's not about closing borders, as is often misinterpreted, but rather about controlling who enters the country.
Tourism, business, import and export, scientific exchange and similar elements of openness are unaffected.
Germany certainly has a responsibility to help people in need in Africa, for example, with meaningful development aid - from a Christian, humanistic and pragmatic perspective.
“Hunger and need must not leave us indifferent,” said Herrmann.
“But we will not solve the problems in Africa through a huge migration of peoples.” Above all, a coordinated European Africa policy is needed.
At least there is now a new attempt at a distribution mechanism for migrants between a number of European countries.
The State Minister cited the payment card for asylum seekers, which will soon be tested and then introduced in Bavaria, as an effective means of limiting migration to Germany.
Even if this would limit the transfer of money to home countries, which amounts to billions of euros, Germany's social benefits - the highest in the EU - remain a problem.
Joachim Herrmann: “That’s the wrong incentive.”