Germany to reject undocumented migrants at border, interior minister says

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BERLIN (Reuters) -German Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt issued an order on Wednesday to reject undocumented migrants, including asylum seekers, at the country’s borders, on the first day of work for the new coalition government of Chancellor Friedrich Merz.

Dobrindt announced the decision to rescind a 2015 instruction that had allowed entry for undocumented third-country nationals, with the aim of reducing illegal migration, saying the numbers were still too high.

“This issue is about clarity, consistency and control,” Dobrindt told reporters.

Germany’s Bild newspaper first reported the plans earlier on Wednesday.

The rejection of asylum seekers is legally controversial. The coalition agreement between Merz’s conservatives and the Social Democrats says the move should be made in coordination with neighbouring countries.

Dobrindt, a member of Merz’s conservative bloc, plans to send up to 3,000 additional officers to the borders to curb irregular migration, raising the number of border police to up to 14,000, according to Bild’s report.

The 2015 instruction was given under then-chancellor Angela Merkel, whose term was defined by the arrival of hundreds of thousands of asylum seekers in Germany, many fleeing war in Syria.

Before Germany’s federal election in February, Merz had promised a crackdown on migration after a spate of violent crimes involving migrants and rising support for the far-right.

His coalition has since agreed to reject asylum seekers at borders, enable deportations to Syria and suspend family reunions.

(Reporting by Markus Wacket, Writing by Rachel More and Emma-Victoria FarrEditing by Madeline Chambers and Gareth Jones)