In 2022, 4,667 illegal entries were prevented at Bavarian borders and airports. Interior Minister Joachim Herrmann (CSU) explains to Bild that this is a record since the founding of the Bavarian Border Police and an annual increase of 52 percent.
In order to locate every last illegal immigrant, a new technology is being used this year: with the help of so-called heartbeat detectors, Bavarian police officers can check the presence of refugees in vehicles without having to enter them.
“Inhumane traffickers must be systematically stopped,” says Herrmann. It is “absurd” that the Schengen countries allow refugees to travel uncontrolled and thereby turn the Free State of Bavaria into a victim of illegal migration.
Heartbeat detectors are already used in prisons
Heartbeat detectors are small, rectangular sensors that are placed on the outside of homes or vehicles. Using vibration measurements, in two or three minutes they determine if there is a heartbeat inside.
Until now, the detectors have mainly been used in prisons. But the first attempts to use them for border control also began in Austria last year, as reported by the “Standard” newspaper.