The new German Interior Minister, Alexander Dobrindt, has announced directives for border police to return asylum seekers without valid travel documents, with exceptions for vulnerable groups like children and pregnant women.
Dobrindt stated that the measure aims to “limit illegal migration,” just hours after being sworn in as minister.
To implement the new guideline, Dobrindt reversed a 2015 policy introduced during the European migration crisis, which allowed undocumented migrants to enter Germany without immediately applying for asylum. At that time, Germany welcomed over a million refugees, mainly from Syria and Afghanistan.
Migration was a key issue during the German election campaign, partly due to a series of crimes committed by foreigners. As previously stated by Chancellor Friedrich Merz, addressing migration is the new government’s first major task.
According to the former Interior Minister, Nancy Faeser of the SPD, more than 53,000 people have already been turned back at the German border since October 2023.
