The city of Greifswald is not allowed to lease urban areas to the district for the construction of container accommodation for refugees. This is the result of a referendum on Sunday. According to the town hall, 65.4 percent of Greifswald residents voted no. Since a good 45 percent of the citizens took part in the vote, the necessary approval quorum was reached, according to which at least a quarter of the citizens must reject or accept an initiative for the vote to be valid. The city is now bound by the decision for two years.
The primary focus of the vote was whether the city could lease land it owned to the Vorpommern-Greifswald district so that accommodation for asylum seekers could be built there. Like all municipalities in Germany, the district is looking for suitable real estate due to the rapidly increasing number of refugees. In fact, however, the referendum was declared by many to be a vote against more immigration; the initiators were accused of stirring up resentment.
The city had previously pointed out that the decision has no influence on whether and how many refugees are assigned to the city by the district. With the no on Sunday, it could now be that the district is looking for alternative areas or suitable living space – it may also be checking the occupancy of gymnasiums. In this case, the initiators of the citizens’ initiative have already announced that they will collect signatures again.
At the beginning of the year there was strong protest against a large container accommodation in the Hanseatic city. Corresponding plans are now off the table. The protest resulted in a citizens’ initiative, which brought about the decision by collecting thousands of signatures.