BERLIN

German federal police have recorded a spike in illegal border crossings by refugees this year, with security officials projecting a continued rise, according to local media.

"The total annual figure for 2021 was already exceeded in September 2022," a Federal Police spokeswoman told news outlet RedaktionsNetzwerk Deutschland, adding that the trend was expected to intensify in the coming year.

According to police data, 70,814 migrants illegally crossed the border into Germany between January and October this year. In November alone, the agency counted another 12,695.

In 2021, the Federal Police had recorded 57,637 illegal border crossings for the entire year, with the Balkans route being was the main contributor to the increase this year, according to the data.

"Based on current developments, it is becoming apparent that the rising trend of unauthorized entries into the EU and also into Germany is likely to continue," said the official, who added that it could also "accelerate further in 2023."

In an interview with the daily BILD, lawmaker Christoph de Vries of the opposition Christian Democratic Union (CDU), criticized the government's policy, saying it was "fueling this dangerous trend with its fatal change of course in migration policy."

"More and more new go-it-alone measures by Germany, deportation stops, but above all the decoupling of the right of asylum and the right of residence, are the wrong way," he said.

The interior minister of the southeastern state Bavaria, Joachim Hermann, of the Christian Social Union (CSU) told the newspaper: "The federal government's migration policy is also problematic. The right of opportunity to stay will make Germany even more attractive to migrants. The government is suggesting that Germany has virtually unlimited reception capacities."