Immigration security

'Control' is the new core of Germany's refugee policy

On March 2 and 3, German Chancellor Angela Merkel travels to Egypt and Tunisia. Concerns about migration and refugees will top the agenda of her talks with Egypt's President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi and Tunisian Prime Minister Youssef Chahed.

As she prepares for crucial elections this September, for many voters Merkel's tenure is associated with the record number of 900,000 refugees that came to Germany in 2015 (another 280,000 arrived in 2016).

The chancellor is under pressure to keep the promise she made late last year: "A situation like we had in the late summer of 2015 can, should and must not repeat itself."

This promise was her answer to the charges of "loss of control" that have been have the heart of the case against Merkel by critics from within her own party and also the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD).