German Chancellor Olaf Scholz on Friday said that irregular migration to the country must "come down."

In an interview in Friday's edition of the Saarbrücker Zeitung regional newspaper, Scholz said he considers border checks to be a sensible measure to limit the number of arrivals.

After an increase in irregular migration last year, the number of first-time asylum applications in Germany fell by 19% in the first six months of the year.

What did Scholz say?

"In general, we intend to continue strictly controlling the German borders," Scholz told the regional paper. "We want to limit irregular migration, as I have announced. The numbers have to come down."

Referring to Germany's urgent need for skilled workers to fill large gaps in the major labor market, Scholz said migration is necessary and desired.

"There are too many who come to us irregularly, claiming to seek protection from persecution, but cannot provide any reasons for asylum and are then rejected," the chancellor added.

He also pointed to existing checks, such as at the French border for the duration of the Olympic Games in Paris that start on Friday. The checks are set to continue until the end of September.

What has Germany done to control irregular migration?

Germany reintroduced checks at its borders with Austria, Switzerland, the Czech Republic and Poland late last year amid rising levels of migrants and refugees crossing into the country.

First-time asylum applications in Germany fell by a fifth in the first half of this year to 121,416 people, according to police figures, compared to the same period last year.

Meanwhile, authorities reported a total of 9,172 unauthorized entries into the country, including 6,401 people who were turned back. Those being turned back were either subject to re entry bans or did not make a request for asylum.

The police also provisionally arrested 275 suspected smugglers, they said.

The European Union's Schengen area is meant to be visa free, with no checks at internal borders between EU states.

But during the 2015 migration crisis, when Europe saw over 1.3 million new arrivals in a short period, several EU members reintroduced checks.

Checks were brought back again during the COVID-19 pandemic, and in Germany during the Euro 2024 football tournament in June and July.

mm/rmt (DPA, DW sources)