Border controls: 120 pushbacks in 46 days at the Luxembourg-German border

About two and a half weeks ago, the federal police published an overall assessment of the first seven weeks of border controls. At the request of The essentialsshe provided the figures this Monday, broken down by country. It appears that only a small part of illegal immigration cases – with the exception of France – is detected at Germany’s recently added northern and western borders. With 576 cases, only 12.36% of the approximately 7,600 pushbacks carried out between September 16 and October 31 concern Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxembourg and Denmark, in descending order.

At the Luxembourg-German border, according to federal police data, there have been 120 pushbacks in 46 days, but no people suspected of illegal crossing. Twenty-five people applied for asylum with the federal police. In this case, direct pushbacks are generally not possible. Executed arrest warrants are a side effect of border control. According to authorities, there were 17 during these seven weeks.

The borders with Austria top the list of illegal entries observed, with nearly 1,700 cases. This is also where the highest number of suspected cases of illegal smuggling were recorded (76). However, it was at the Swiss border that the number of pushbacks actually carried out was the highest, with nearly 1,500 cases, more than twelve times more than in the Grand Duchy. The federal police did not respond to the question of the number of fixed checkpoints and police officers deployed.

The Minister of the Interior, Léon Gloden (CSV), believes that immigration is not a valid argument to justify border controls within the meaning of the Schengen area. The Chamber voted on Thursday in favor of a motion, drawn up by Yves Cruchten (LSAP) and Meris Sehovic (Déi Gréng), which instructs the government to refer the matter to the European Commission. The latter will have to verify the legality of border controls.

Illegal entries recorded in Germany are decreasing in 2024 compared to the previous year. Supporters of border controls see their effect. Opponents, like Yves Cruchten, point to a general decline in migration figures: according to the European Border and Coast Guard Agency (Frontex), the number of illegal entries at the external borders of the European Union has decreased by 42% during the first nine months of the year, to around 166,000 illegal crossings.

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