Police detected 13% fewer illegal border crossings into Germany in the first three weeks following the start of permanent border checks compared to the three weeks prior, official preliminary figures released on Thursday showed. The police encountered a total of 3,464 foreigners attempting to enter without permission at land borders between September 16 and October 6, data from the Federal Police obtained by dpa showed. Of these, 2,073 were turned back at the border. In the period from August 26 to September 15, there were 3,984 unauthorized entries and a total of 2,353 refusals. The data came…