
Germany updates: Police say extra border checks unustainable – DW – 05/19/2025
The German Police Union (GdP) is warning that intensified border checks and asylum rejections cannot go on much longer amid staff shortages and suspended training.
GdP chief Andreas Rosskopf said the measures rely on adjusted rosters, canceled leave, and paused training.
Over 1,000 riot police are currently deployed at the borders after Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt recently tightened controls, with turnbacks up by nearly a half.
Meanwhile, an Iraqi couple are on trial in Germany accused of enslaving and abusing two Yazidi girls.
Here's a roundup of top news stories from Germany on Monday, May 19.

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an hour ago
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German govt to ask EU court to rule on migrant turnbacks – DW – 06/07/2025
06/07/2025 June 7, 2025 German interior to seek EU verdict on border turnbacks Germany's Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt said the German government would seek a ruling from the European Court of Justice (ECJ) on the legality of migrant turnbacks at the border. Dobrindt's comments to the Funke media group follow a ruling by a court in Berlin on Monday that the refusal to allow three Somali nationals to enter last month was unlawful. The court ruled that on May 9, border guards failed to initiate proper asylum procedures and returned the trio to Poland. According to the court, Germany should have applied the European Union's so-called Dublin Regulation, establishing which country is responsible for the asylum claim of the migrants, before they were sent back. The Dublin rule specifies which EU state should process an asylum application, partly to prevent arrivals from making claims in wealthier countries rather than the first EU nation that they entered. Dobrindt said the government would provide its rationale for invoking Article 72 — a special clause under EU law that permits exceptions to the Dublin rule in emergencies. "We will submit sufficient justification, but the European Court of Justice should decide on the matter," Dobrindt said, adding: "I am convinced that our actions are in line with European law." Dobrindt insisted that Germany had to crack down on illegal migration, which he said would prevent the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party from pushing more radical solutions. German Chancellor Merz rejects criticism of border controls To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video Germany introduced tougher border checks on May 7, including new rules allowing asylum seekers to be turned away at the border for the first time. In the first days of the new rule, 19 people who sought asylum in Germany were denied entry, along with nearly 300 other migrants, local media reported. Following this week's court ruling, the cabinet approved even stricter measures.


DW
an hour ago
- DW
Germany: Car drives into crowd in Passau – DW – 06/07/2025
06/07/2025 June 7, 2025 German interior to seek EU verdict on border turnbacks Germany's Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt said the German government would seek a ruling from the European Court of Justice (ECJ) on the legality of migrant turnbacks at the border. Dobrindt's comments to the Funke media group follow a ruling by a court in Berlin on Monday that the refusal to allow three Somali nationals to enter last month was unlawful. The court ruled that on May 9, border guards failed to initiate proper asylum procedures and returned the trio to Poland. According to the court, Germany should have applied the European Union's so-called Dublin Regulation, establishing which country is responsible for the asylum claim of the migrants, before they were sent back. The Dublin rule specifies which EU state should process an asylum application, partly to prevent arrivals from making claims in wealthier countries rather than the first EU nation that they entered. Dobrindt said the government would provide its rationale for invoking Article 72 — a special clause under EU law that permits exceptions to the Dublin rule in emergencies. "We will submit sufficient justification, but the European Court of Justice should decide on the matter," Dobrindt said, adding: "I am convinced that our actions are in line with European law." Dobrindt insisted that Germany had to crack down on illegal migration, which he said would prevent the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party from pushing more radical solutions. German Chancellor Merz rejects criticism of border controls To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video Germany introduced tougher border checks on May 7, including new rules allowing asylum seekers to be turned away at the border for the first time. In the first days of the new rule, 19 people who sought asylum in Germany were denied entry, along with nearly 300 other migrants, local media reported. Following this week's court ruling, the cabinet approved even stricter measures.


DW
3 days ago
- DW
Germany updates: Merz set for inaugural trip to US – DW – 06/04/2025
06/04/2025 June 4, 2025 Germany seeking easier process to declare countries safe in asylum curbs The German government is looking at a simpler process when it comes to declaring countries of origin as safe, under a push by the new conservative-led coalition to reduce the number of asylum seekers. Chancellor Merz's Cabinet approved a draft policy in which a country can be declared safe with a simple statutory order and where the consent of the Bundesrat (Germany's upper house of parliament) is no longer needed. Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt said the move was part of a whole package of "national measures (...) to implement the asylum turnaround." Under German asylum law, "safe countries of origin" are seen as those where people are not subject to political persecution or inhuman punishment. Migrants seeking asylum from these countries are likely to have asylum applications rejected, apart from exceptional cases. Deportations back to safe countries will also face fewer legal obstacles. Opposition lawmakers from the Green party have criticized the draft as contrary to German law, as have asylum and immigration NGOs. The reform still needs to be approved by the lower house of parliament, the Bundestag. The announcement comes just days after a court declared the government's tightened border security, including the turning back of asylum seekers, to be illegal under German law.