From January through September 2024, German authorities denied entry to 5,935 Ukrainians attempting to cross the country’s borders illegally, according to a report from Bild am Sonntag, which cites Federal Police data.

At Germany’s land borders, Ukrainians were the most frequently turned away, followed by Syrians and Afghans, who were rejected 4,709 and 2,396 times respectively.

According to the report, an attempt is classified as illegal if a migrant tries to enter without a valid residence permit.

Reasons for denial also include failure to register as asylum seekers or having a temporary re-entry ban.

In the first nine months of 2024, the German Federal Police registered 53,410 illegal entry attempts.

The majority of these rejections occurred at the border with Switzerland, where 9,113 people were turned away.

The border checkpoints with Poland saw 7,862 rejections, followed by Austria and France, with 5,468 and 2,350 illegal attempts, respectively.

Additionally, German authorities identified 1,482 deported migrants attempting to re-enter despite a previous ban.

Police also arrested 1,195 smugglers and uncovered 1,088 smuggling operations. From January to September, the total arrests amounted to 7,783.