The German Association of Cities is urging Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) for concrete results before the so-called refugee summit. “The federal and state governments must not go away empty-handed at their next meeting on May 10. We need reliable funding commitments and concrete results that will noticeably relieve us when it comes to taking in refugees,” said association president Markus Lewe (CDU) to the newspapers of Funke- media group.
“The money has to dynamically adapt to the increasing number of refugees and actually reach the municipalities.” But money alone is not enough. “Therefore, the federal states must significantly expand their reception capacities and maintain them permanently. And the federal government must also do more with its own real estate,” demanded the mayor of Münster. “The federal government must also consistently support the repatriation of asylum seekers who are obliged to leave the country and have no prospect of staying.”
Federal slows down – refers to debt
Some municipalities are now reaching their limits when it comes to accommodating and caring for asylum seekers and refugees from the Ukraine. In her opinion, the lump sum of 2.75 billion euros promised by the federal government for 2023 is not enough, and the integration costs are not taken into account either. The federal government, on the other hand, puts the brakes on it and argues that the federal states have financial surpluses, but that they themselves have debts.
Nevertheless, the states continue to insist on more money from Berlin. Bavaria’s Prime Minister Markus Söder (CSU) told the “Spiegel” that the traffic light coalition was letting the municipalities and states down. “There is a lack of sufficient financial aid, of accommodation by the federal government and of orderly control of immigration.”
Wüst: “Need a fair and lasting solution”
In the same magazine, his Düsseldorf CDU colleague Hendrik Wüst called for “significantly more funds to flow – and permanently”. The continuity is also important to Saar Prime Minister Anke Rehlinger (SPD): “We need a fair and, above all, permanent solution for financing, which, for example, dynamically adapts to the number of refugees,” she told the “Rheinische Post”.
The district council also demanded a clear limit on the immigration of asylum seekers. “We expect the federal government to do everything it can to significantly reduce the influx of refugees,” said President Reinhard Sager (CDU) of the same newspaper.
