Germany announced today that it was temporarily re-imposing border controls to slow the flow of refugees into the country. Trains travelling to Germany from Austria were suspended for 12 hours ending Monday morning.
This comes just over a week after Germany and Austria effectively opened their borders to refugees by choosing to stop enforcing the EU’s “Dublin” rules where asylum seekers are required to register in the first member state they arrive in.
On the initial weekend on which borders opened, it was reported that around 16,000-17,000 people had crossed the Austrian border with Hungary. This Saturday alone, German police said around 13,000 refugees had arrived in the southern German city of Munich.
Today, German Interior Minister Thomas de Maiziere defended the decision to open borders but stated, “We need to quickly return to orderly procedures now…We can’t allow refugees to freely choose where they want to stay – that’s not the case anywhere in the world.”
In the meantime, Austria’s chancellor has made clear that they may not necessarily follow suit though it’s unclear for how long. Tens of thousands of refugees have passed through Austria on their way to reach Germany. The Austrian police reported that this Sunday would be the busiest at the border since the wave began last week.
This comes just over a week after Germany and Austria effectively opened their borders to refugees by choosing to stop enforcing the EU’s “Dublin” rules where asylum seekers are required to register in the first member state they arrive in.
On the initial weekend on which borders opened, it was reported that around 16,000-17,000 people had crossed the Austrian border with Hungary. This Saturday alone, German police said around 13,000 refugees had arrived in the southern German city of Munich.
Today, German Interior Minister Thomas de Maiziere defended the decision to open borders but stated, “We need to quickly return to orderly procedures now…We can’t allow refugees to freely choose where they want to stay – that’s not the case anywhere in the world.”
In the meantime, Austria’s chancellor has made clear that they may not necessarily follow suit though it’s unclear for how long. Tens of thousands of refugees have passed through Austria on their way to reach Germany. The Austrian police reported that this Sunday would be the busiest at the border since the wave began last week.