Over 4,500 asylum seekers reached Germany by train

The arrivals brought the number of asylum seekers in Germany by train since the start September to 91,823

MUNICH, GERMANY: A total of 4,537 asylum seekers reached Germany by train on Monday despite the imposition of new controls at the border with Austria, the federal police said on Tuesday.

The arrivals brought the number of asylum seekers who have entered Germany by train since the start of the month to 91,823, a police spokesperson in Potsdam said.

Read: Germany reinstates border controls over refugee surge

Figures for total arrivals by train and other methods are due to be published later on Tuesday morning.

On September 13, 2015, Germany said it was reinstating border controls on Sunday as Europe’s top economy admitted it was stretched to the limit trying to cope with a record influx of refugees.

The announcement came as tragedy struck again off the coast of Greece, with 34 more migrants — among them babies and children — drowning when their overcrowded wooden boat capsized in high winds.

Read: As crisis escalates, Berlin says refugees cannot choose where to live

German Interior Minister Thomas de Maiziere said border controls would be reintroduced with immediate effect, and the Czech republic announced similar measures on the border with Austria.

“The aim of this measure is to stop the current influx to Germany and to return to an orderly process,” de Maiziere said, as the city of Munich recorded an influx of 63,000 asylum seekers in two weeks.

Asylum-seekers must understand “they cannot choose the states where they are seeking protection,” he told reporters.

Under EU rules, the first country of entry is required to deal with an asylum-seeker’s request for protection, but Germany had waived the rule for Syrian refugees.