Germany will implement expanded border controls with Poland and the Czech Republic this week in an effort to curb illegal migration, according to the interior minister's

statement on Wednesday. The surge in migrant arrivals has exposed weaknesses in the European Union's asylum system.

"If we do not succeed in better protecting the external borders..., then the open borders within the EU are in danger," said Ms. Nancy Faeser during a press conference in Berlin.

In addition to taking in around one million Ukrainian refugees over the past year, Germany has witnessed a significant increase in asylum seekers from other regions.

This rise in migrant arrivals coincides with thousands of migrants arriving on boats from North Africa and landing on the Italian island of Lampedusa.

Germany's neighboring country, Poland, initiated checks on some vehicles crossing the Slovak border on Tuesday, suspecting that they could be transporting illegal migrants. Photo by ErichJacobi, Wikimedia commons.