As of: 04/08/2023 4:53 p.m
Interior Minister Faeser rejects demands from the municipalities for more money – and refers to billions that have already been promised: She has been sharply criticized for these statements, including by district administrators and the German police union.
Federal Interior Minister Nancy Faeser (SPD) continues to cause criticism with her statements on refugee policy. On the one hand, she is being attacked because she rejects demands from the municipalities for more money from the federal government for refugee accommodation. On the other hand, it is also about their refusal to limit the influx of refugees.
Faeser’s statements are scandalous, said the deputy head of the German police union, Heiko Teggatz, of the “Bild” newspaper. “No border protection, no upper limit, no money for the municipalities. It’s a dangerous cocktail that is changing the mood in the country.”
He added: “Anyone who has still not recognized that the capacities for accommodation in the cities and municipalities have long been exhausted are obviously suffering from a loss of reality.”
Faeser refers to federal aid
Faeser had told the Funke media group: “I find it strange that it is already being said – at the beginning of April of this year – that the money for this year is not enough.” For 2023, the federal government promised the states and municipalities 2.75 billion euros in additional support at an early stage.
In the interview, Faeser refused to limit the number of refugees. Eight out of ten refugees come from Ukraine. “There can be no upper limits for humanity.”
District Administrator Tino Schomann (CDU) from Northwest Mecklenburg told the “Bild” newspaper: “The Federal Minister of the Interior still does not see the problems and is showing that she is leaving the municipalities alone, far removed from reality. I call that a denial of reality. Humanity knows no borders, but living space and the resources.”
District Administrator Jens Marco Scherf (Greens) from Miltenberg in Lower Franconia cannot understand the statements made by the Interior Minister either: “We have a shortage of housing, daycare centers, schools, language and integration courses – everything is scarce! The bottom line is that Ms. Faeser’s statements are one of the head. They negate the precarious situation on the ground.”
Finance Minister support
Faeser gets support from her cabinet colleague Christian Lindner (FDP). The Federal Minister of Finance told the “Rheinische Post” that he did not want to provide the federal states with any additional federal funds to care for the refugees. “The federal government is already giving the states massive support,” he said.
“We have all taken the refugees from Ukraine into the citizen’s income, which means that the federal government pays for their living expenses, although the states are actually responsible,” explained Lindner. The federal states are also in much better financial shape than the federal government, argued the FDP leader: they had achieved a surplus last year, while the federal government had to take on high debt because of the crises.
The federal states and municipalities are demanding additional money from the federal government for the care of the refugees. At a so-called refugee summit on May 10, they expect Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) to make corresponding commitments.
number of refugees is increasing
After the start of the Russian war of aggression in Ukraine, around 1.1 million refugees came to Germany from the country last year, almost a million of whom stayed.
The number of people seeking protection from other countries had also risen again in 2022. Around 218,000 initial applications for asylum were made last year. In January and February of this year, more than 54,000 asylum applications were made. That was significantly more than in the same period of the previous year.