German police register fewer refugees at Polish border

Fewer people entered eastern Germany on the migration route via Belarus and Poland in November, reported dpa.

The Federal Police Directorate in the town of Pirna near the eastern city of Dresden and not far from the Polish border said on Thursday that it had registered 1,099 unauthorized entries from Belarus in the month, down from 1,794 people in October.

Significantly fewer people also entered the state of Brandenburg illegally. The Federal Police registered 1,592 illegal entries in November, compared to 2,791 people in October, the police said on Thursday.

In November, however, the number of illegal entries was higher than in September, when 1,305 people entered the country without authorization.

Despite the decline, the number remains at a high level, the police in Pirna said. The border between Poland and the state of Saxony, of which Dresden is the capital, was the main focus of the arrests.

According to the police, the officers are on the move near the border with intensified search measures.

The main country of origin of the migrants remains Iraq, the police say, amounting to more than two thirds of the apprehended people. Other countries involved include Syria, Iran, Yemen, Turkey and Afghanistan.

On Thursday, the Polish Border Guard reported 58 attempted illegal border crossings within 24 hours.

In November, the border guards recorded 8,900 attempts. This number was a significant decrease compared to October, when 17,500 attempts were registered.

The EU accuses Belarusian ruler Alexander Lukashenko of deliberately flying people from crisis regions to Minsk in order to smuggle them into the EU.

Iraq said on Thursday it was bringing home 433 more citizens from Belarus after they had been stranded on its border in their attempt to enter the European Union.

Last month, the Iraqi government said it would bring back those who wish to return voluntarily from Belarus.

At least 1,500 Iraqis have since been repatriated aboard flights of the national carrier.

The latest group were flown on Thursday on an Iraqi Airways flight out of the Belarusian capital Minsk, spokesman for the Iraqi Foreign Ministry Ahmed al-Sahaf said, without giving further details.

The ministry has also issued 140 passports for Iraqi migrants who had lost their passports to help their repatriation, the official added, according to Iraq’s state news agency INA.

Poland, Lithuania and Latvia have tightened the EU's external border with Belarus in recent weeks so that fewer migrants are able to get through.

On Thursday, a spokesperson said that the Polish police arrested two suspected people smugglers on Wednesday. They were travelling with migrants in the east of the country, near the towns of Losinka and Tonkiele.

According to the statement, a Polish citizen was caught near Losinka, with four Iraqi and three Syrian citizens in his car. The second suspected smuggler is a Belarusian citizen who was travelling with an Iraqi migrant.