Accommodation for refugees: no more gyms

The question of where people seeking protection can be accommodated continues to concern states and municipalities. Today the prime ministers are discussing the problem. They are asking for more federal support.

In Berlin, refugees are again living in containers and halls at closed airports. There are no free places in refugee accommodation. The big goal: “No gym occupancy in the capital, like we did in 2015,” said Berlin’s Governing Mayor Franziska Giffey ARD Capital Studio.

Putting those seeking protection back into gymnasiums – nobody wants that in cities and communities. If only because the mood towards the refugees could change if children and clubs are unable to do any sport for weeks.

After all, two-thirds of the population are still in favor of accepting people, says Hannes Schammann, Professor of Migration Policy at the University of Hildesheim. But the question of whether Germany can continue to afford the admission and care to the same extent drives many.

Municipalities are demanding more help from the federal government

Before the deliberations of the prime ministers, Lower Saxony’s head of government, Stephan Weil (SPD), renewed his demand for more money from the federal government to take in refugees. “We believe that the federal government’s previous services are really inadequate,” said Weil im ARD morning magazine.

In Lower Saxony, the federal government bears about a sixth of the costs of the state and the municipalities. “That’s far too low a rate, which I think needs to be increased significantly,” Weil said. “In my view, a fifty-fifty rule would be fair.” Weil currently chairs the Prime Ministers’ Conference.

Concrete help is more important than more money

Eight out of ten people seeking protection currently come from Ukraine, many women and children fleeing the Russian war of aggression. But many people from Syria or Afghanistan have also applied for asylum in Germany in recent months.

The German Association of Cities calls for more support from the federal government. Its general manager Helmut Dedy finds concrete help with accommodation even more important than more money. His suggestion: The federal government could provide its own accommodation to accommodate people at short notice. “We need advance notice. If we need a tent city in an emergency, it has to be set up first,” says Dedy. Of course it is the task of the federal states, but the places made available are not enough. And that’s where the federal government could step in, with its own facilities. which he then runs.

A spokesman for the Federal Ministry of the Interior says there is no legal basis for this. According to the Asylum Act, the federal states are responsible for receiving and accommodating those seeking protection. Nevertheless, the federal government is already making more than 330 buildings available to the states, for example former barracks.

But the German Association of Cities goes even further: Those who have no prospect of asylum should remain in the initial reception facilities. “We would like to use the rather tight spaces in the municipalities for people who we can assume will be able to stay with us in the future,” says Dedy.

Ampel no longer wants large collective accommodations

But that goes too far for the SPD, Greens and FDP. Green migration expert Filiz Polat argues that accommodation works best when local people are involved. The traffic light government and migration experts see large collective accommodation as an obstacle to integration.

Hannes Schammann from the University of Hildesheim believes that the task of the federal government is to make provisions for the future now. He is convinced that this was not the last refugee immigration. Climate-related migration in particular will increase in the future. The municipalities and the federal government would have to adapt more strongly to this and think about more flexible accommodation concepts for this, says Schamann. In this way, financial resources could be made available to provide accommodation so that it could be put into operation at short notice if required.

At today’s meeting of the country heads, that’s exactly what’s needed: flexible solutions for people to quickly get a solid roof over their heads. The countries led by the Union and the SPD demanded in advance that the chancellor should make it a top priority how the rising number of refugees will be dealt with in the future – and who will pay for it. According to information from ARD Capital Studios A special prime ministerial conference with Olaf Scholz is to take place on May 10th.