German police are on track to turn away some 20,000 migrants this year at the country’s borders, airports and sea ports, local media reported on Wednesday.

“From January until the end of November, 19,720 people were stopped from entering the country.

“Statistics for December are yet to be compiled,” the media noted, citing numbers from the German Federal.

The number includes 1,237 Nigerians who have been stopped from entering Germany so far this year. Afghan asylum seekers were turned back most often, with 3,695 people affected in 2016 so far. In addition, 2,142 Syrians and 1,794 Iraqis have also been turned back.

The 2016 number marked over 100 per cent increase in comparison to 2015, when 8,913 migrants were stopped from entering the country over the course of the whole year.

The local media reported that the number of people turned away by police has been going down in recent months, in spite of the overall increase.

“This is partly due to the fact that Germany’s border controls now only take place at the border to Austria,” it said.

In spite of being part of the control-free Schengen area, Germany decided in November to extend border controls at the Germany-Austria border until February.

German Interior Minister Thomas de Maiziere said that Germany had to take the step until the European Union was able to sufficiently control its external borders.

•Adapted from a dpa/NAN report.