BERLIN: Germany will push on with temporary border controls beyond a September deadline as it cracks down on irregular immigration, Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt said Thursday.
Berlin also plans to deport more rejected asylum seekers with criminal records to Taliban-run Afghanistan and to war-scarred Syria, Dobrindt said in a podcast with media outlet Table.Today.
Germany’s conservative Chancellor Friedrich Merz has vowed a tough crackdown on irregular immigration, saying this is the only way to stem rising support for the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party.
A spate of deadly attacks blamed on asylum seekers and other foreign nationals fueled public fears during the campaign for the February election, in which the AfD scored a record 20 percent.
“We will continue to maintain the border controls” beyond the September 15 deadline, Dobrindt said about the measures first launched last year under the previous government of Olaf Scholz and extended by six months in March.
