Only 11 refugees have been turned away at the German border since Berlin introduced tough anti-migrant measures which were endorsed by Interior Minister Horst Seehofer last year, The Guardian cited German government figures as revealing on Wednesday.
This comes after Seehofer told Germany's Bild newspaper in mid-December that he will put forth a proposal to the coalition government to further tighten the legal basis for deportation and repatriation of refugees at the beginning of 2019.
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In July 2018, he threatened to resign after Chancellor Angela Merkel initially blocked his so-called “migration masterplan” which stipulates turning away asylum seekers at the German border if they have registered in another EU members or were previously denied refuge in Germany.
A compromise deal was finally reached after Seehofer negotiated agreements with Austria, Greece and Spain to take back migrants turned away at the German border. Shortly after this, he announced that he had postponed his resignation.
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In the wake of the 2015 migrant crisis in Europe, Seehofer harshly blasted Merkel’s decision to open Germany’s borders and take in refugees fleeing conflict zones and poverty.
In 2017, Germany welcomed 325,400 asylum seekers accounting for almost 60 per cent of the 540,000 refugees resettled that year, according to the Eurostat European statistics office.