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Al Arabiya
41 minutes ago
- Al Arabiya
Germany to extend border controls on migration crackdown
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. 'We are in agreement with our European partners that this is a necessary measure until the (EU) external border protection system is fully operational,' he said. Members of Europe's Schengen area are allowed to temporarily reintroduce border controls for up to two years in response to serious threats such as terrorism or large-scale unauthorized migration. Merz's government further tightened the border checks when it took power in early May, moving to also reject most asylum seekers – a step that sparked an outcry from human rights groups. Federal police numbers deployed daily at the borders were stepped up to 14,000 from 11,000. According to ministry data, 9,254 people were turned back at German land borders between May 8 and July 31 – with most recorded cases from Afghanistan followed by Algeria, Eritrea and Somalia. Germany's border with France saw the most rejections, at more than 2,000 in that period, followed by Poland, Switzerland and Austria. Germany has also twice deported migrants convicted of offences to Afghanistan, most recently last month when 81 were sent back – a move Dobrindt said 'cannot remain a one-off measure.' Amnesty International criticized the deportations, saying the situation in Afghanistan was 'catastrophic' and that 'extrajudicial executions, enforced disappearances and torture are commonplace.'
Al Arabiya
an hour ago
- Al Arabiya
Paris office of Israeli airline El Al vandalized
Suspected vandals daubed the front of the Paris office of Israeli national airline El Al in red paint, drawing condemnation from French Transport Minister Philippe Tabarot on Thursday. 'Free Palestine' and other slogans were scrawled in red on the El Al entrance. 'Acts of hatred and anti-Semitism have no place in our Republic,' Tabarot wrote on X. Joshua Zarka, Israel's ambassador to Paris, also condemned the incident. 'It's quite simply an attack, nothing more, nothing less, against an Israeli company, and against the state of Israel,' he told reporters. France has seen a rise in hate crimes following the October 7, 2023 attacks on Israel by Hamas, and Israel's subsequent military campaign in Gaza. Last year, police recorded an 11 percent rise in racist, xenophobic or antireligious crimes, according to official data published in March. The figures did not include a breakdown by attacks on different religions. The Paris prosecutor's office did not respond to a request for details on the investigation.
Al Arabiya
4 hours ago
- Al Arabiya
Zelenskyy calls for Putin meeting to end war
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Thursday called for a face-to-face meeting with Vladimir Putin to end war, after Donald Trump's special envoy held talks with the Russian leader in Moscow. Trump one day earlier hailed talks between his envoy Steve Witkoff and Putin as 'highly productive' but US officials still vowed to impose sanctions on Moscow's trading partners. Zelenskyy said later that he had spoken by phone with Trump, who said he could meet with Putin 'very soon,' and that European leaders had been on the call. 'We in Ukraine have repeatedly said that finding real solutions can be truly effective at the level of leaders,' Zelenskyy wrote on social media. 'It is necessary to determine the timing for such a format and the range of issues to be addressed,' he added. The Ukrainian leader said Thursday morning that he had planned to hold 'several' conversations throughout the course of the day including with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, as well as French and Italian officials. 'There will also be communication at the level of national security advisors,' Zelenskyy added. 'The main thing is for Russia, which started this war, to take real steps to end its aggression,' Zelenskyy added.
