Admission of those in need of protection: Saxony-Anhalt wants a say

Status: 02/21/2023 5:27 p.m

The black-red-yellow state government of Saxony-Anhalt wants to use the Bundesrat to ensure that the states have a greater say in migration policy in the future. Specifically, it is about the admission programs of the federal government.

The state government of Saxony-Anhalt wants the federal states to have more say in the federal humanitarian admission programs. She announced that she would submit a corresponding application to the Federal Council.

With the admission programs, Germany has been organizing the admission of people in need of protection for several years – for example from Syria or from refugee camps on Greek islands. They make up a small but important part of immigration since 2015.

Have a say in number and admission criteria

In October 2022, Federal Interior Minister Nancy Faeser (SPD) and Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock (Greens) launched an admission program for Afghans. A total of over 40,000 former local staff and other particularly vulnerable people and their family members are to be taken in.

In Saxony-Anhalt, where the CDU, SPD and FDP govern, people are bothered about the development of the program given that accommodation in many places is almost full. States and municipalities are currently “bearing the main burden of accommodation and integration,” said Saxony-Anhalt’s Interior Minister Tamara Zieschang (CDU). In the future, the federal government must take greater account of the resources “actually available” for taking in those seeking protection.

The State Chancellery in Magdeburg announced that this is to be achieved through “significant participation” by the federal states. On the one hand, the federal states should be informed earlier by the federal government about planned programs and, on the other hand, they should be able to have a say in the number and selection of people to be admitted.

Result of refugee summit too thin for many

Just last week, the federal, state and municipal umbrella organizations came together for a refugee summit. They agreed on a better exchange of data and the formation of several working groups on the subject. Other decisions, such as further financial aid, were postponed until after Easter.

While Federal Interior Minister Faeser then spoke of an “already very good result”, the President of the German District Association, Reinhard Sager (CDU), called it a “great disappointment”. Many municipalities have been complaining for weeks and months that they are finding it increasingly difficult to find and provide accommodation for refugees on site.

The CDU politician Zieschang from Saxony-Anhalt was one of the critics of the summit result. Her Ministry of the Interior said that several countries had already signaled their support for a Federal Council initiative.

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