Bordering on change

GERMANY is grappling with a sizable increase in illegal border crossings, as pressure mounts for Chancellor Olaf Scholz to address the situation with stricter policies.

Authorities reported a significant rise in unauthorised entries since the beginning of the year on Wednesday, May 17, saying approximately 20,000 people entered the country illegally between January and March, a 50 per cent surge on the same period last year.

To combat the issue, Scholz recently unveiled plans to strengthen border controls on all nine borders of Germany. He also urged European Union partners to create asylum centres on the outskirts of the bloc.

However, these measures have faced criticism from a coalition of more than 50 humanitarian organisations. They argue that the proposed asylum processes at the EU border would undermine refugee protection laws and likened the planned centres to prisons.

The news comes as leaked reports from the country’s federal police’s migration analysis for April suggested

FOREIGN embassies in Beijing, including European embassies, have been instructed to remove what China’s foreign ministry calls “politicised propaganda” from their buildings according to reports released on Wednesday, May 17.

It is believed that this directive is aimed at the Ukrainian flags proudly displayed by several missions as a show of solidarity following Russia’s invasion. The notice, issued earlier this month, cautioned against placing provocative displays on the exterior walls of embassy buildings that could incite disputes between nations.

The UK, Canadian, US, and EU embassies, along with others, have been exhibiting the Ukrainian flag as a symbol of support. Embassies often display flags or banners to express solidari­ that migrant arrivals to Germany are likely to rise considerably in the coming months.

The report mentions Turkey’s elections as a factor, with refugees from Syria being directed to Germany via Belarus, Poland, and the Czech Republic.