Germany just announced emergency border controls to temper the flow of migrants

Migrants in Germany
(Image credit: Christof Stache/AFP/Getty Images)

Germany invoked emergency powers Sunday amid an ongoing European crisis that saw 12,200 migrants arrive in Munich on Saturday alone, The New York Times reports.

Interior Minister Thomas de Maizière said the border-blocking measures, which will allow Germany to turn away migrants not fleeing war or persecution, would be temporary.

Germany is reportedly reaching capacity after Chancellor Angela Merkel openly welcomed migrants and encouraged the rest of the European Union to do the same. Nearby countries including Austria are also taking in thousands of migrants.

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"The influx is simply not stopping right now," an Austrian police spokesman told the Times. "We really have our hands full."

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Julie Kliegman

Julie Kliegman is a freelance writer based in New York. Her work has appeared in BuzzFeed, Vox, Mental Floss, Paste, the Tampa Bay Times and PolitiFact. Her cats can do somersaults.