Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt told federal police on May 7 to step up inspections along the Polish and Czech borders, reviving stationary posts first installed in October 2023 and repeatedly prolonged since.
Physical barriers are being matched by new holding centers. On March 1, a fenced “Dublin Centre” with 250 beds opened in Eisenhuettenstadt, Brandenburg, keeping applicants on site under the “bed, bread and soap” rule until their return claims are processed instead of dispersing them nationwide.
Legislators have tightened the legal net. Cabinet scrapped an accelerated route to citizenship and suspended family reunification for people with subsidiary protection on May 28; parliament prolonged the ban for two years on June 27, with Dobrindt warning schools, housing and welfare were at capacity.
A Berlin court ruled on June 2 that migrants expressing intent to seek asylum during border checks cannot be sent back without first determining which EU state is responsible, after three Somalis were returned to Poland in May.
Merz denies Warsaw’s claim that Berlin is pushing asylum seekers east. “There are no readmissions to Poland – there will not be,” he said, adding that the Schengen zone must not serve criminals.
Poland, saying Germany now refuses to admit transiting migrants, will re-introduce temporary checks on the German and Lithuanian frontiers from July 7.
(jh)
Source: PAP