Latest news with #GdP
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
German customs to assist police with border controls
German customs officers have been called in to help police cope with stricter checks on the borders aimed at turning back migrants attempting to enter the country irregularly, a Finance Ministry spokeswoman told dpa on Friday. The request was being evaluated, the spokeswoman said. Customs falls under the Finance Ministry. Hours after taking office on May 6, Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt imposed stricter border checks, instructing that all asylum seekers should be turned back. The measures do not apply to pregnant women, children or other vulnerable people. The GdP police union said that these stricter controls could be maintained only for a few weeks, but Dobrindt rejected this. Germany's federal police force is responsible for the country's borders. The customs office has been supporting police along the borders with Poland, the Czech Republic, Austria and Switzerland since mid-October 2023. The arrangement was extended to all borders from mid-September. The customs spokeswoman added: "A further increase in support for the federal police from customs should not be allowed to jeopardize statutory duties in other areas of customs, for example, airports and seaports." Interior minister defends stricter border controls Dobrindt on Friday defended the stricter border controls on his first visit to Prague since taking office. "Germany has a strong magnetic effect on illegal migration in the world," Dobrindt said, calling for this to be reduced and the numbers of migrants brought down. He acknowledged the greater burden on police, but said the checks were having an effect. Germany and the Czech Republic share a border of more than 800 kilometres. Both countries are members of the Schengen free travel area. Dobrindt said a pan-European solution was required, and said German Chancellor Friedrich Merz's coalition, which took office at the beginning of the month, would no longer hold back in Brussels when it came to taking joint measures against irregular migration. Czech Interior Minister Vít Rakušan called for a rapid return to Schengen rules on freedom of travel. The Prague government saw the current German measures as an "exceptional situation," he said. Rakušan said he had agreed with Dobrindt that the new checks would be re-evaluated after a month at the beginning of June. According to the Prague government, transit through the country is at a five-year low, with most rejections at the German border affecting Ukrainians with right of residence in the Czech Republic but not elsewhere in Europe. Migrants from countries like Syria were now the exception, he said. Many Czechs commute across the border for work in Germany.
Euronews
6 days ago
- Politics
- Euronews
German police call for further measures after spate of knife attacks
Following the latest violent stabbing attack at Hamburg central station on Friday, two of Germany's largest police trade unions are advocating for enhanced video surveillance, increased staffing, and additional controls to bolster law enforcement efforts. At least 18 people were injured after a 39-year-old German woman with a mental health condition attacked a group of people with a knife at the station during rush hour. The attack occurred despite the station being subject to a knife ban since December 2024, which fines anyone found carrying a bladed object with a €10,000 penalty. Police forces and experts are calling for different measures on top of a knife ban in response to the incident, which follows a spate of similar attacks, including one in Bielefeld the week prior in which five were injured. DPoIG national chairman Rainer Wendt argued on Monday that "modern video technology" must be used in areas with high crime rates. In addition, Germany's law enforcement would need "considerably more police forces and relief from non-prison tasks" to implement such technology, Wendt told Euronews. The problem is one of "capacity", according to Wendt. His comments echo those of GdP chairman Andreas Roßkopf, who advocated for placing surveillance cameras with facial recognition technology in so-called "crime hotspots" in the aftermath of the attack. Such cameras could "detect behavioural problems in advance," Roßkopf told the domestic press. In another interview, Roßkopf also called for police to be able to carry out increased checks without cause to tackle knife crime. A spokesperson for the German interior ministry said that after the latest incident, security would once again take a front seat. "Video surveillance is part of the concept. We are already testing AI-based video surveillance at Hansaplatz that detects conspicuous movement patterns," spokesperson Daniel Schaefer said. Experts agree that knife bans by themselves are not always impactful in combating crime — partly due to the difficulty in enforcing them in places such as busy train stations like Hamburg's, through which thousands pass daily. "Weapons ban zones in my view are not a sustainable approach to crime prevention," criminologist at the University of Zurich Dirk Baier told Euronews. "They rely too heavily on controlling and searching passersby." However, according to Baier, neither artificial intelligence nor increased police powers is a single solution to preventing more knife crime. "Knives can be inconspicuously carried in pants or jacket pockets, AI cannot detect that. And knife attackers only behave conspicuously at the moment of the attack, not beforehand," Baier said. Preventative work in schools and early detection are more effective, Baier believes. "Often, individuals who commit knife crimes have previously exhibited aggressive behaviour. The risk posed by such individuals must be identified earlier." DPoIG's Wendt said the family also plays a vital role in the prevention of violent knife attacks. "For young people, it is above all their families who are responsible. If education teaches that it is okay to carry knives, schools, playgrounds and all other public spaces become dangerous places," he said. "Parental responsibility must be emphasised more than before. They are responsible for ensuring that their children go to school unarmed. If necessary, sanctions must be used to make it clear to them that this is not a trivial matter," Wendt concluded. Knife crime has steeply risen in Germany over the past few years, with police statistics showing an almost 10% year-on-year increase in bodily assaults involving knives since 2023. Restrictions, such as those in place at Hamburg train station, were put in place after a mass fatal stabbing in the western city of Solingen in 2024, in which three people were killed.
Yahoo
24-05-2025
- Yahoo
German police union wants AI support after Hamburg knife attack
The head of Germany's GdP police union has called for technical support using artificial intelligence (AI) for law-enforcers following Friday's knife attack that left 18 people injured at Hamburg Central Station. "Unfortunately, such attacks can never be prevented 100%," said union chief Andreas Rosskopf, according to the Hamburger Abendblatt newspaper. However, there is now an urgent need for the federal police to be able to carry out comprehensive checks at railway stations, Rosskopf stressed. He advocated using AI-supported camera technology "that also includes behaviour recognition so that such behavioural anomalies can be detected in advance." Early on Friday evening, 18 people were injured in a knife attack on a crowded station platform, four of them critically. Police arrested a 39-year-old woman at the scene who is to be brought before a magistrate on Saturday.
Local Germany
19-05-2025
- Politics
- Local Germany
How long can Germany keep its tighter border controls in place?
Germany has further increased the police presence at its land borders since the new government stepped into power, following campaign promises by Friedrich Merz and his conservative CDU/CSU alliance to crack down on the number of asylum seekers entering the country. But the police union (GdP) has warned that they only have the resources to maintain the increased patrols for a few weeks, and there are concerns that Germany's new tactics for dealing with migration could disrupt Europe's hard-fought asylum reforms. "One thing is clear: the police can only maintain intensive controls for a few more weeks," GdP chairman Andreas Roßkopf told the Funke media group. He added that over 1,000 riot police had been deployed at the borders for days, but that doing so had meant that training had to be paused and attempts to reduce overtime had to be lifted. The police chairman's comment follows reporting by Der Spiegel at the beginning of May. The report cited a police memo expressing doubts about the capacity for maintaining border controls at the level ordered by Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt (CSU). Advertisement Roßkopf said the police union stands behind the efforts of politicians to "reduce irregular migration to Germany, including with border controls by the federal police". Just a few hours after taking office, Dobrindt ordered police to step up controls at the German border and reject the majority of new asylum seekers, with the exception of some vulnerable minorities such as children and pregnant woman. READ ALSO: New border checks stir old memories on Polish-German border How successful have the added patrols been? Following the Interior Ministry's order, an additional 3,000 federal police officers were reportedly assigned to border zones, bringing the total number of border officials up to 14,000. According to the minister, the number of rejections at Germany's borders rose by almost half within a week. He cited 739 attempts to enter the country that had been blocked - an increase of 45 percent compared to the previous week. German Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt delivers a statement as he visits the border control station Kiefersfelden. Photo: Michaela Stache / AFP However, looking at the number of incoming asylum applications, Der Spiegel reported that the added controls have not had a significant effect. Europe needs coordination on migration policy Not everyone in Germany's new black-red coalition government agrees that policing the borders more intensely is a viable way to tackle migration. Lars Castellucci, the interior expert for the SPD party, suggests that these tactics could undermine European cooperation on migration. "With tightened border controls and uncoordinated rejections of asylum seekers, we are running the risk that our European neighbors will abandon the common course of asylum reform," Castellucci told the Funke newspapers. He added that in migration efforts, Germany can "only be successful together with our neighbours". Advertisement Isn't the Schengen zone supposed to be border-free? Europe's Schengen area was designed to be free of internal borders, ideally allowing EU citizens and residents freedom of movement between different nations without border checks. But the Schengen Borders Code does allow member states to reintroduce border controls temporarily in the event of serious threats to public policy or security. The controls are supposed to be used only as a last resort and for a limited time. READ ALSO: Can Germany turn back asylum seekers at Austria's border? Controls at Germany's borders were brought in by the previous traffic-light coalition and extended to each of the country's nine land borders in autumn last year. At the time, the government cited concerns about irregular migration, extremism and cross-border crime. The more recent expansion of controls, as well as Dobrindt's orders to reject asylum seekers at the border, has been received somewhat sceptically. Austria's Ministry of the Interior, for example, has pushed back firmly and some European law experts have questioned the legality of the move.
Yahoo
19-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Germany updates: Police say extra border checks unustainable
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. An Iraqi man and his wife, both accused of being so-called "Islamic State" (IS) militant group members and enslaving two Yazidi girls, are set to appear in court in Germany. The 43-year-old man and 29-year-old woman face charges at the Munich Higher Regional Court, including genocide, human trafficking, and crimes against humanity. Prosecutors say that in 2015, the man bought a 5-year-old Yazidi girl as a dowry for his wife, at her request. The child was allegedly held captive by the couple in Iraq and Syria for over two years, during which she was subjected to forced labour, sexual abuse, humiliation, and torture. In October 2017, the couple allegedly bought a second Yazidi girl, aged 12, who endured similar abuse. Both girls were later transferred to other IS members in November 2017. While the older girl was eventually freed after a ransom was paid, the fate of the younger child remains unknown. The couple were arrested in Bavaria in April 2024 and have been in custody since. IS aimed to establish a theocratic state under Sharia law during the conflicts in Syria and Iraq. German prosecutors argue the couple's actions were part of IS's systematic rape of Yazidi women and girls — a strategy designed to dismantle the group's continuity and identity. Germany has emerged as a key prosecutor of IS war crimes that took place in Iraq and Syria under the principle of universal jurisdiction. Germany's intensified border checks and the rejection of asylum seekers cannot continue for much longer, the country's police union has warned. Andreas Rosskopf cited a lack of personnel and the suspension of training programs as the main reasons. Rosskopf, chairman of the German Police Union (GdP) police union, told the Funke Media Group in comments published Monday that the current measures were only sustainable because duty rosters had been adjusted, training sessions paused, and officers' overtime leave canceled. "The police can only keep up these intensive checks for a few more weeks," Rosskopf said, noting that more than 1,000 riot police officers had been deployed in border areas for several days. Shortly after taking office earlier this month, Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt ordered stricter border controls, allowing authorities to turn back migrants even if they seek asylum. According to Dobrindt, the number of people turned away has increased by nearly 50% since the changes were introduced. Rosskopf said the union supports the government's efforts to reduce irregular migration through enhanced checks by the federal police. Guten Tag and welcome to our coverage of developments in Germany on Monday, May 19, 2025. Germany's enhanced border checks cannot go on for much longer, the country's major police union has warned. GdP police union chief Andreas Rosskopf says the measures are currently relying on temporary fixes, such as canceled leave and suspended training. Germany's new Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt recently tightened controls as part of the new conservative-led coalition agreement to cut irregular migration. This blog will provide you the latest news, analysis, multimedia content and DW on-the-ground reporting in regards to events in Germany. Stay tuned for more!
