The number of unauthorized entries into Germany has halved within two years. In the year that ended, the Federal Police detected 62,526 illegal entries at all German land, air and sea borders, as they announced in Potsdam. In the previous year 2024 there were 83,572 unauthorized entries; in 2023 the federal police counted 127,549. At that time, officials arrested more than 20,000 people in some months. In December the number was now just under 4,600.
Since mid-September 2024, there have been border controls for entry at all German borders again; this was already the case in some cases before. This is intended to reduce the number of unauthorized entries. The temporary controls have so far been extended twice. Actually, border controls are not planned in the Schengen area, which includes most EU states as well as Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland.
Almost 68,000 unauthorized entries with border controls
Since then, the Federal Police say they have registered 67,918 unauthorized entries. Of these, 46,426 people were rejected or pushed back directly at the border or in connection with illegal border crossing. 2,513 people were prevented from entering the country – they were banned from re-entering Germany. Since then, 1,945 smugglers have been arrested.
Federal Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt (CSU) intensified the controls that were introduced under the previous traffic light government in May 2025. Since then, the federal police are also supposed to turn away asylum seekers with exceptions for members of vulnerable groups, including sick or pregnant women. Since May 8, 2025, the federal police have counted 33,338 unauthorized entries. It was said that 242 vulnerable people had applied for asylum.
