German interior minister reports major decrease in number of illegal border crossings

BERLIN

German Interior Minister Nancy Faeser on Tuesday defended the migration policies of her outgoing government, saying that the number of asylum applications and irregular migration has decreased substantially.

"We have significantly reduced irregular migration. Asylum numbers are 50% lower, and the number of deportations is 55% higher than two years ago,” Faeser said in a statement.

“The Federal Police have already turned back 50,000 people at our internal border controls. We are preventing people who are not allowed to enter the country and putting a stop to criminals,” she added.

Since October 16, 2023, the Federal Police have been conducting temporary border controls at the land borders with Poland, the Czech Republic, Austria (here as before), and Switzerland.

Furthermore, since Sept. 16, 2024, there have been temporary border controls at all land borders with Germany's neighboring countries.

Following the significant expansion of undercover surveillance, the controls became necessary to further reduce irregular migration to Germany.

According to the Interior Ministry, the number of asylum applications in Germany in the first quarter of this year was 35% less than in the first quarter of 2024 and 49% less than in the first quarter of 2023.

Meanwhile, the number of skilled workers migrating to Germany has increased by 77% since 2021.

It was also reported that more than 1.2 million took refuge in Germany between February 2022 and February 2025 as a result of the Russian war.

Migration is looming large in the political debate in Germany after the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party is seen to have capitalized on the issue, fueling major gains in the recent general elections.