Protest action by Greenpeace activists in front of the GDR Ministry of the Evironment against the leaching of salt into the Werra River from potash mines. The People’s Police put an end to the action within minutes; the protesters are deported to West Berlin.
18 September
1986
After repeated protests from the West German government, the GDR tightens up its transit regulations to stem the uncontrolled stream of asylum-seekers via the Berlin district of Schönefeld to the West.
West German Chancellor Helmut Kohl had sharply criticised the GDR’s method of deporting asylum-seekers, above all Tamils, to West Germany via West Berlin in an interview on 26 July. In response, the Foreign Ministry of the GDR had stated on 10 August that it saw no reason to stop foreigners travelling through to West Berlin, as the GDR was a transit country.
Finally, however, the GDR does react and issues tighter entrance conditions for foreigners; this leads to a noticeable reduction in the number of asylum-seekers arriving in West Germany via the GDR.less
