Germany not shutting doors to asylum-seekers: Merkel's spokesman

Berlin

Germany is not slamming its doors shut to refugees even if it is reinstating border controls, Chancellor Angela Merkel's spokesman said Monday, adding that the drastic measure was needed to bring some order to the asylum process.

"Temporary border controls are not the same as closing the borders, that's completely different. Refugees will continue to come to Germany and we hope that this will happen in a more orderly manner," said Steffen Seibert.

The spokesman added that the measure was necessary for security reasons, so that the authorities could have an idea of "each person who is coming and his or her profile".

Berlin announced Sunday it was reinstating border controls, after admitting that its capacity had been stretched to the limit by the tens of thousands of new arrivals.