Tighter borders: Germany ramps up checks

DW (English)

The German government plans to intensify border controls in an effort to slow the influx of migrants — a key campaign promise of newly elected Chancellor Friedrich Merz. But how do people living in border regions feel about the move?

Transcript

00:00Checks at the German-Polish border have been in place for almost two years.

00:05And now the new German administration is intensifying its crackdown on irregular immigration,

00:11upsetting residents.

00:13The tension is palpable in Görlitz and Zgorzelecz.

00:16Jakub Wolinski crosses the border almost every day and is frustrated by controls.

00:21He comes from Zgorzelecz, but lives with his family in Görlitz.

00:25Last year he filed a complaint against the controls.

00:31These checks make our lives more difficult here along the border.

00:34It's just unpleasant.

00:36You feel like a criminal who's done something wrong when all you're doing is heading home

00:39from visiting your grandparents.

00:45Family visits, doctor's appointments – for many here, crossing the border is routine.

00:50But each time they enter Germany, they run the risk of being checked or getting stuck in

00:55endless traffic jams.

00:56Last year, after being stopped several times, Wolinski had had enough and sued Germany.

01:03He's convinced Germany is violating the Schengen Agreement, and many are angry.

01:08On Sunday and Monday on the Polish side, the whole city is one big traffic jam.

01:15It's terrible, considering we live in one city here.

01:21Our children often go to kindergarten on the German side.

01:26What they're doing is just detrimental to us.

01:29It really can't go on.

01:34The controls are clearly a burden on residents here.

01:37But on the German side, some welcome them, because asylum seekers who've already applied

01:42in Poland are being turned away.

01:46I don't think it's such a bad thing when you consider that municipalities and cities have

01:50reached their limits.

01:52It's a policy that I personally put up with, and hope that it's not permanent.

02:03The mayor of Görlitz understands Pol's anger about the controls, but sees them as necessary

02:09to limit migration.

02:10He doesn't feel concerned about neighbourly relations here, and hopes for a European solution.

02:17Our cross-border relationship isn't affected, but of course, it's a bit inconvenient to

02:23have extra border obstructions.

02:28But now that there's discussion at the European level, I expect everyone will soon come to an agreement,

02:35and that such internal border controls will no longer be necessary.

02:41Stronger controls at the EU's external borders could help.

02:44They're also being pushed for in neighbouring Poland, where the current local measures are under fire.

02:50Border controls are a problem for our cooperation with Görlitz.

02:55We're currently preparing a petition in the form of a complaint.

02:58We believe that Germany has suspended the Schengen agreement, and that they're in the wrong.

03:06These controls take a very long time.

03:13Jakub Wolinski hopes his case at the Dresden Administrative Court will bring the measures to an end,

03:19in part because he feels singled out.

03:21Although the stops are random, he's been checked very frequently.

03:26Here, Polish citizens face suspicion on a daily basis.

03:32We're checked simply because we crossed the border.

03:36It's downright unfair, and that's how we see it in Poland.

03:41Despite everything, his lawsuit is not directed against Germany or the European idea.

03:50To the contrary, he says, it's meant to help strengthen the Schengen agreement and freedom of travel within the European Union.

03:58It's unclear how long the stricter border controls will last.

04:01The police union complains they present a major burden, even for the police officers.

04:06What if they're charged?

04:07What if they address any president?

04:08They são tomas.

04:09They're соп of guarding the border.

04:11They waters and closelymembers.

04:12They're on the border.

04:13They dictatorship вот sometimes, and to win example if the legal system is brutal,

04:15they're unremotional right or not police officers.

04:16They carry out some prostu duties and standard funds with them.

04:17They help them save money from their shipping bar until on them.

04:18They're options for chaos.

04:19They're fighting for 1935-414-2600.

04:20They're suyför.

04:21They arrest their health care and thank them for its Guerra 40-14s.

04:22They are on their disgruntlement места,

04:23They can'tA and agree with the possibility of a property living in November.

04:25The Allied floor is mantle that often sold privately,

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