Illegal immigration to Germany reached a record high level in 2014
German police said they had arrested 57,000 illegal immigrants in 2014, an increase of 75% in just one year since 2013.
Police said 27,000 illegal immigrants had been arrested inside Germany, while 30,000 were detailed 30,000 at the borders, particularly those with Austria and France.
Also arrested were 2,100 traffickers illegally smuggling people into the country, up from 1,535 in 2013.
“Next to the international Islamist terrorism, illegal immigration is currently the biggest challenge for the federal police,” Dieter Romann, the federal police chief, said.
Germany’s federal police is a small specialised force in charge of protecting the country’s borders. General crime is dealt with by state police forces.
Those detained came predominately from war-torn Syria while others originated from Eritrea, Afghanistan, Kosovo and Somalia. A number will be refugees, although not necessarily entitled to claim asylum in Germany, while others will be economic migrants.
Under EU, refugees claiming asylum must do so in the first member state they reach.
But Mr Romann has accused southern EU countries such as Italy of doing nothing to stop asylum-seekers using the Schengen border free area to travel on to Germany.
However, Germany did have 173,072 asylum claims last year, compared to 109,580 in 2013.
Authorities have been struggling to provide accommodation for refugees, and the debate over immigration has grown increasingly polarised.
A few refugee shelters have been damaged and set alight. The Pegida anti-Islam movement has mounted large protests to curb immigration.
But despite the vocal protests against immigrants, there has been a larger groundswell of support for them.
