Berlin, Dec 20 A majority of Germans support the federal government's plans to curb asylum immigration, according to an opinion poll published on Saturday.
A survey conducted by YouGov for the German news agency DPA found that 53 per cent of respondents fully support Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt's goal of reducing the number of asylum seekers entering the country, while a further 23 per cent said they would rather support the policy.
Only 15 per cent said they oppose the approach, while the remaining respondents said they had not decided, Xinhua news agency reported. Since taking office in May, Dobrindt has ordered stricter border controls and authorised the rejection of asylum seekers at Germany's borders, with exceptions for vulnerable groups such as pregnant women and the seriously ill.
At the EU level, he is also advocating stricter asylum rules that would permit the establishment of so-called return centers, which can accommodate asylum seekers who are required to leave Germany before being deported to their home countries.
Despite these steps, only eight per cent of respondents said they had noticed a clear change in migration policy, while 42 per cent said they saw no shift at all.
The YouGov survey was conducted among more than 2,100 eligible voters between December 12 and 15.
Earlier this week, authorities of Germany's eastern state of Saxony-Anhalt said that they had detained a 21-year-old man suspected of planning an attack on large crowds, according to public broadcaster ARD.
The suspect, whose specific nationality was not disclosed but who was described as being from "Central Asia," was taken into police custody last Friday. He has since been placed in detention pending deportation, according to the interior ministry of the state of Saxony-Anhalt.
Tamara Zieschang, the state's interior minister, said on Tuesday the suspect entered Germany in 2024 and had recently been training as a nursing specialist.
Authorities began monitoring him after detecting signs of increasing radicalization, including a strong interest in weapons.
In a separate incident, five other people were detained earlier this month in the southern state of Bavaria on suspicion of planning a vehicle attack on a Christmas market.
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