Last week, police in the German city of Görlitz, located near the Polish border, reported finding more than 80 migrants in various patrols. Press releases detailing several arrests were issued almost every day.

Most of the migrants had crossed from Poland and were returned almost immediately. Some were taken to first reception centers, or when identified as minors, handed over to the youth authorities.

The German-Polish border is part of the Schengen zone, but patrols and controls have been common in this area since 2015-16 when more than one million migrants, many of them from Syria, entered Germany and more and more migrants hoped to follow in their footsteps via the so-called Balkan route, from Greece and Turkey, through the Balkans and on via Poland and into Germany.

Roundup of events

On Monday (May 6), a press release from the German police reported that patrols observed a "large group" of migrants making their way across the German-Polish border on foot on Saturday (May 4).

After six of the people in the group had crossed into Germany, one of the people in the group was seen returning to Poland. Suspecting people smuggling, the German police followed the suspect and picked them up a little bit later on the Polish side of the border.

Suspected smugglers reported to be from Ukraine

According to the police press release, the suspect was a 20-year-old from Ukraine. A second Ukrainian person, this time reported as an 18-year-old was also arrested, suspected of also being part of the smuggling group. The 18-year-old was found waiting in a car not far from the border.

On questioning, the two Ukrainian suspects told police that they had brought six migrants in their car from the capital Warsaw. The six migrants in the group, reported as coming originally from Syria (5) and Morocco (1) were picked up later by different police patrols. Two of those smuggled into Germany were immediately sent back to Poland. The other four were taken to a German first reception center.

Later on that Saturday (May 4), a further five migrants were picked up by patrols. This time they came from Eritrea, and were found near the Stadtbrücke area and in the old town. Police in neighboring Bad Muskau also say they found four men from Afghanistan.

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Various groups of migrants picked up by police patrols

On Tuesday (May 7), two men from Afghanistan were found to be walking on a motorway bridge in the afternoon. They were discovered as they neared the border control post. The police said the men did not have the correct papers to enter Germany and they were returned to Poland.

Later on that day, four more Afghans, three Somalis and a Yemeni man were found in the area of Deschka, also located right on the border with Poland. In this area, the German police sometimes patrol alongside their Polish colleagues. One bi-national patrol said that as they were on duty in the area of Hagenwerder, a Somali man "almost ran into their arms" after crossing the German-Polish border.

On Wednesday (May 8), Görlitz police said they stopped 16 migrants without papers. The men, the press release from the police stated, were from Somalia, Afghanistan, Nepal and Yemen originally.

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Public provided police with tip-offs

After a tip-off from the public, the police say they were also able to stop a man suspected of smuggling the men into Germany. The suspect was reported to be a 50-year-old Ukrainian individual. The witness told the police they had seen at least four men getting out of a vehicle in Poland and heading towards the Stadtbrücke area of Görlitz.

The driver of that car, said the witness, stayed in the car for a while and then followed on a little later.

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At around 4:30 pm that day, the police stopped four men from Somalia without the correct travel documents to be in Germany. About 30 minutes later, the police stopped the man they suspected of smuggling them into the country. The arrested suspect met the description provided by the witness, stated in the police’s press release.

The Somali men then also identified the 50-year-old suspect as the person who had driven them into the country.

Migrants found came from a variety of countries

A separate press release from the police, also stated that their officers had stopped another 23 migrants that day across the city. The migrants were reported to be from Iraq, Syria, Iran, Senegal and Yemen. The police believe these men walked over the border from Poland on foot. One Afghan man, who appeared to be traveling alone, was found in Görlitz station. One of the individuals from Yemen was handed over to the youth authorities and another Yemeni man was taken to a first reception center. All the other migrants were returned to Poland.

The next day, on May 9, a religious holiday in Germany, the police stopped a further 19 migrants, this time from Somalia, Nepal, Syria, Turkey and Yemen. Again, acting on a tip-off from the public, police then stopped two Pakistani nationals and two nationals from Bangladesh on the railway bridge in the Zentendorf area of Görlitz.

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Later, in the same area, the police then stopped four Afghan migrants, also without papers. The majority of the migrants the police stopped, according to the press release, had traveled into Germany over the border from Poland.

Three of the Afghan migrants who were stopped were taken to a first reception center. Six minors were sent to the authorities to be looked after, but all the other migrants stopped by the police were sent back to Poland, stated the police in their press release on May 10.