European police authorities have always used the SIS primarily for migration defence. A change in the law is exacerbating this trend. Specific checks with searches are also on the increase.
The number of entries in the Schengen Information System (SIS) has risen by around 70 per cent compared to the previous year. The German Federal Ministry of the Interior already provided information on this a few weeks ago in its answer to a parliamentary question from the BSW Group. The reason for this is a new version of the Borders Code from 2018, which must now be implemented by the Schengen states. The Social Democratic Party-led German Ministry of the Interior has now provided further details.
The SIS is the largest EU database, to which the Schengen states of Switzerland, Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein are also connected. It is possible to issue alerts on persons or objects by police forces or secret services. According to the new Borders Code, 2,000 other federal, state and local authorities in Germany alone are now authorised to use the database.
To prevent the re-entry of rejected asylum seekers, immigration authorities also store persons in the SIS. These entries in accordance with Article 24 of the Schengen Borders Code make up the largest number of all German searches in the SIS. This was now explained by the ministry in response to a question from BSW MP Andrej Hunko. According to this, German Article 24 searches increased by around one sixth last year to 70,432.
In second place in the SIS figures is the “return decision” category, which also concerns asylum seekers after their application has been rejected. According to the new Borders Code, these decisions must now be stored in the SIS by all Schengen states.
Many of the approximately 24,000 SIS alerts to determine the whereabouts of asylum seekers for judicial authorities, for example when documents are to be served, presumably also concern asylum seekers.
The number of German EU arrest warrants stored in the SIS has also increased slightly compared to the previous year and now stands at 6316. A new category is “minors in need of protection”, for which German authorities have entered 752 persons. These are to be prevented from travelling “for their own protection”, for example if there is a risk of abduction or that they could become victims of human trafficking, forced marriage or genital mutilation.
Another new category, “adults in need of protection”, has so far been set at zero by the German government. However, there was a slight decrease to 5,603 people in the search for missing minors.
German police authorities continue to use Article 36 of the SIS Border Code to search for around 4,000 people for discreet checks, with the persons concerned being reported to the issuing authority without their knowledge. Entries for specific checks have increased by half to almost 1,500, where officers are also asked to search the person’s luggage when they encounter them and pass the findings on to the police issuing the alert or the Office for the Protection of the Constitution.
Another new category is “unknown wanted person”, for which German authorities have not yet made an entry. The member states can also publish fingerprint or palm print data of suspected offenders for searches if they have been found after terrorist or serious criminal offences. If the traces turn up elsewhere, the authorities receive a message. However, German authorities have not yet utilised this function in the past year.
Published in German in „nd“.
Image: At every police check, a query is made as to whether the person is entered in the SIS. Secret searches are also possible (Last Hero, CC BY-SA 2.0.).
