The difficult situation regarding the accommodation of refugees in Berlin comes to a head dramatically. Because there are only a few hundred places left, an emergency plan should now come into force, as the integration administration told the Tagesspiegel on Wednesday.
One of the plans is to open a large disaster protection tent with around 900 beds on the premises of the Ukraine arrival center in Tegel. A spokesman said that the possibility of renting accommodation in hostels or setting up more tents is also being considered.
Integration Senator Katja Kipping (left) told the German Press Agency that Berlin has had to take in more asylum seekers for some time because “almost all other federal states” have dropped out of the nationwide distribution system for the time being. “There is actually an admission freeze for people who apply for asylum for the first time.”
The so-called EASY system, which the BAMF uses to distribute refugees, is not about refugees from Ukraine, but about all other people who apply for a classic asylum application – i.e. people from Syria, Afghanistan, Moldova, China or Russia.
According to Kipping, the other countries justified this by saying that they were heavily burdened by taking in Ukrainian refugees who do not have to apply for asylum. “Berlin has to cushion that now. That exacerbates the situation here.” The BAMF was not available on Monday morning when asked by the Tagesspiegel.
Kipping called on the other federal states to return to the distribution system based on the so-called Königstein key. According to this system, asylum seekers are distributed among the states in proportion to the number of inhabitants. Berlin’s share is a good five percent. “We have to find political solutions here,” said Kipping.
Recently, in addition to war refugees from Ukraine, around 1,000 asylum seekers from numerous other countries were registered in Berlin every month. According to the current figures, around 450 more can be expected in July due to the freeze on admissions in other federal states, said Kipping. In addition, the tendency for refugees to move in is increasing again anyway.
The State Office for Refugee Affairs (LAF) reported 326 free places in community accommodation and reception facilities on Wednesday. For comparison: The total capacity is around 24,500. According to the experts in the LAF, the places will only last a few days
At the beginning of July, the senator sounded the alarm with regard to the accommodation of refugees and pointed out the tense situation in the Tagesspiegel (T ). At that time there were still 850 places available.
