In 2021, Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko began letting migrants cross his country's border into Poland to retaliate against EU sanctions. Poland strengthened its border controls, but the number of illegal migrant crossings into Germany has been surging in recent months. The Brandenburg region in eastern Germany now finds itself at the crossroads between the Belarus and Balkans migrant routes. Some leaders in Germany are calling for the return of stationary controls in the border region and other eastern German states. The German government says it is considering this option, but local communities say they are overwhelmed. Our correspondents followed a federal police patrol in the region.