Prime Minister
Admission of refugees: Kretschmer demands an orientation number
Saxony’s Prime Minister Michael Kretschmer (CDU) is not talking about an upper limit, but about a number to guide the admission of refugees. photo
© Hendrik Schmidt/dpa
There are calls from countries to limit migration. Saxony’s Prime Minister is calling for a figure for guidance, while Schleswig-Holstein’s Prime Minister is calling for poverty migration to be limited.
From the point of view of Saxony’s Prime Minister, it is necessary to accept refugees Michael Kretschmer a number for orientation. “We should agree on a realistic size, for example 200,000 refugees per year,” said the CDU politician to the “Freie Presse”.
That is a number that you can use as a guide. “Then you can talk about which instruments you can use to achieve this number.” Bavaria’s Prime Minister Markus Söder (CSU) had previously called for an upper limit of 200,000 refugees per year.
The EU can support Poland in securing its external borders and Germany has the opportunity to carry out controls at German borders, he said. Effective repatriation agreements are also needed. According to him, Tunisia, Morocco and Algeria should be designated as safe countries of origin. It also needs to be clarified how criminal asylum seekers should be dealt with.
“And it’s about the questions that Italian Prime Minister Meloni raised: How high are the social benefits for asylum seekers in Germany compared to other countries in Europe? And what effects does this discrepancy have?”
Günther: We have to limit poverty migration
Schleswig-Holstein’s Prime Minister Daniel Günther has also called for course corrections to German migration policy. “We will have to limit poverty migration so that we can concentrate our capacities on those who are really persecuted,” said the CDU politician in the state parliament in Kiel. “In Schleswig-Holstein we have seen a dramatic increase in the number of asylum seekers.” Compared to the same period last year, there is an increase of 90 percent. The situation in the municipalities is becoming increasingly difficult. “The letter we received from the mayors and district administrators is evidence of this dramatic situation.”
There is still a lot of willingness to help in the north, said Günther. This willingness should not ignore the fact that capacities are finite. 100 refugees are currently arriving every day. “With the number of places registered in the municipalities, we will be in a very, very difficult situation in Schleswig-Holstein in four to five weeks.” Given the enormously high numbers, it will foreseeably be problematic to ensure reception and integration as required.
“We don’t want to accommodate refugees in sports halls because we want people to do sports there,” said Günther. The state government has therefore assured the expansion of initial reception capacities in the state. Schleswig-Holstein is well positioned in comparison and society in the north is not drifting as much apart as in other federal states. However, uncontrolled immigration is overwhelming society.