{"id":98019,"date":"2025-05-13T12:24:12","date_gmt":"2025-05-13T12:24:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/98019\/"},"modified":"2025-05-13T12:24:12","modified_gmt":"2025-05-13T12:24:12","slug":"unhcr-warns-germany-over-stricter-border-controls","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/98019\/","title":{"rendered":"UNHCR warns Germany over stricter border controls"},"content":{"rendered":"

UNHCR has expressed concern over Germany\u2019s decision to tighten border controls and reject asylum seekers at its borders.<\/p>\n

UNHCR\u2019s representative in Germany, Katharina Thote, told dpa that the agency was worried about the government\u2019s move to stop accepting asylum applications at the border.<\/p>\n

She noted that Germany has been a key partner for UNHCR for decades and remains an important country of asylum in Europe.<\/p>\n

Stricter border controls were introduced on the orders of the newly appointed interior minister Alexander Dobrindt last Wednesday, with exemptions applying to vulnerable groups.<\/p>\n

This included heavily pregnant women, women with young children and seriously ill individuals.<\/p>\n

The measures after Chancellor Friedrich Merz\u2019s conservative-led government took office, pledging to maintain temporary border checks already in place and to turn back illegal migrants at the border, even if they apply for asylum.<\/p>\n

Ms Thote said international law did not force refugees to apply for asylum in the first country they arrived in.<\/p>\n

In some cases, they can be sent to other safe countries, provided their rights were protected and it helped share responsibility fairly between nations, she added.<\/p>\n

However, closing the country\u2019s borders to all asylum seekers could undermine the principle of fair distribution.<\/p>\n

She warned and called on Germany to uphold existing EU agreements on managing asylum claims.<\/p>\n

Border rejections of people without valid visas are not new in Germany.<\/p>\n

However, until now, these measures have mainly applied to people who did not apply for asylum or had been previously banned from entering the country, for example, after deportation.<\/p>\n

A spokesman for Germany\u2019s interior ministry said it was too soon to assess the full impact of the policy.<\/p>\n

Since January, 45,681 people have applied for asylum in Germany for the first time, down from 84,984 in the same period last year, marking a 46 per cent decrease.<\/p>\n

(dpa\/NAN)<\/p>\n


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