Germany’s parliament has agreed to tighten rules for asylum seekers and limit their benefits, marking a turning point in the country’s approach to migration nearly a decade after former chancellor Angela Merkel opened the floodgates.

Parliament approved plans to withdraw social benefits from asylum seekers who have already registered in another EU country and are expected to be deported.

Interior Minister Nancy Wieser told parliament that the new measures would ‘strengthen Germany’s internal security in the face of what she called ‘threats”.

The change in Germany’s stance on migration comes amid a growing hardening of the issue in Europe, where far-right parties are gaining influence and EU leaders have recently called for urgent new legislation to increase returns and speed up the process.