German federal police at the weekend intercepted more than 320 irregular migrants near the Polish border in southern Brandenburg. Fourteen smugglers were arrested, the police headquarters in Berlin announced on Monday. Most of those attempting to enter Germany were Syrian or Turkish nationals. Federal and state police, as well as customs officers, were involved in the operations.

On Friday, the driver of a van attempted to flee, when federal police officers tried to search the vehicle on the A15 highway at the Forst junction at the German-Polish border. The driver continued driving before he and the passenger jumped out of the moving van, according to police. Then the vehicle rolled 200 meters further and came to a halt.

The police officers detained the driver -- the suspected smugglers and the passenger had already fled. According to police, the officers intercepted 24 migrants from Syria and two from Yemen, including two minors. All of them had been transported on the loading area without being secured, they said. Five people were treated as outpatients by rescue workers after the chase.

Increase in irregular migration

On Saturday, a total of 42 people from Turkey, including 19 children, were picked up at the Cottbus South exit of the A15 highway and taken into custody. Six suspected smugglers -- one from Turkey and five from Georgia -- were arrested.

Police in Saxony discovered 49 people, including 20 children, who were probably locked in a van for several hours in high temperatures, a spokesperson for the Ebersbach federal police station said on Wednesday.

Earlier, MDR Sachsen online reported on a number of people discovered Tuesday evening near Oberseifersdorf in the district of Görlitz. Following the vehicle checks police arrested two suspected smugglers, aged 27 and 32.

"Migration has been steadily increasing for months and there is a lot of smuggling on the Balkan route," a police spokesperson said.

Push for stricter controls

On Sunday, authorities in Cottbus-Kahren discovered a car in which a man from Uzbekistan had smuggled 11 people from Syria, including an eight-year-old child, into Germany. Some Syrians had been sitting in the trunk.

Investigations were initiated against the suspected smugglers on suspicion of smuggling people into Germany under conditions that in some cases endangered their lives. The federal police are investigating the migrants on suspicion of unauthorized entry.

For several months the interior minister for the state of Brandenburg Michael Stübgen has been calling for stricter controls at the German-Polish border, similar to those at the Bavarian-Austrian border. German federal interior minister Nancy Faeser has already increased the random document checks carried out by the police and has been working together with the Polish and Czech counterparts on addressing the issue of irregular migration.

The end of Schengen?

During the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, border controls were reintroduced across the Schengen zone. However, some EU members within the zone states have continued to carry out border checks long after lockdown measures were lifted.

Slovenia has urged Croatia to improve policing of the EU’s external border amidst mounting concerns over a significant increase in migration, as well as pressure from the right-wing opposition.

Faeser has remained firmly against the resumption of permanent border controls with Poland and Czech Republic, Schengen Visa Info reported.

Faeser suggested instead that the country should focus on introducing other measures to address irregular migration. Permanent border controls would make regular border crossings more difficult and time consuming, causing difficulties for the local population and those who cross the border several times a week.

A federal interior ministry spokesperson said that the reintroduction of border controls within Schengen is not a measure that is being considered by the government.