In view of the sharp increase in the number of refugees, Weil demanded that the financial contributions from the federal government should be based on the number of people who come to Germany. The federal proposals that have become known give “little cause for optimism,” said Weil in Hanover. He expects “very difficult talks”.
The federal government is apparently still not planning any significant increase in refugee aid for states and municipalities. According to a draft paper for the meeting, which was presented to the ARD capital studio on Saturday, the federal government is already providing billions in support, while the federal states and municipalities recorded billions in surplus.
Rhein expects the federal government to finally “take notice of the need of the municipalities and provide help as quickly as possible”. The federal government must “at least double” its current share of 2.75 billion euros, he told the RND newspapers (Monday editions). The federal share must be based on the influx of refugees. In addition, the federal government must start a repatriation offensive. The federal government alone is responsible for “controlling and limiting migration”.
Baden-Württemberg’s Prime Minister Winfried Kretschmann (Greens) refers to bottlenecks in accommodation and daycare places. “The federal government must live up to its responsibility and must not leave the states and local authorities alone with the additional costs of the refugee crisis,” Kretschmann told the “Bild am Sonntag”.
The Rhineland-Palatinate Prime Minister Malu Dreyer (SPD) emphasized the need for a joint solution. Your federal state has massively increased the places in its initial reception facilities. “I know that the municipalities are still reaching their limits,” she told the “Bild am Sonntag”.
Saarland Prime Minister Anke Rehlinger (SPD) suggested in the “Rheinische Post” that “unused funds from housing subsidies can be used to create affordable housing that can also be used temporarily to accommodate refugees”.
The President of the District Council, Reinhard Sager, called for “urgently reliable perspectives” for the districts in the “Rheinische Post” on Saturday. In addition to limiting the number of immigrants, people who have fled should be returned to their countries of origin, he said. City council president Markus Lewe spoke in the Funke newspapers in favor of granting refugees faster access to the labor market. This requires a change in integration law.
Green parliamentary group leader Britta Haßelmann told the Düsseldorf “Rheinische Post” and the Bonn “General-Anzeiger” (Monday edition): “The municipalities, which are particularly challenged, need additional financial support, also from the federal government.” On Wednesday, however, practical solutions will also be discussed, such as making it easier for refugees to enter the labor market.
In the debate about rapid asylum procedures at the EU’s external borders, Federal Interior Minister Nancy Faeser (SPD) reiterated her initiative for asylum centers at the EU’s external borders. “In the future, decisions about asylum for people who have little prospect of protection in the EU will have to be made at the external borders,” she told the “Bild am Sonntag”.
EU Interior Commissioner Ylva Johansson signaled support. “It is important to have mandatory border procedures,” she told the “Welt am Sonntag”. This is necessary “in order to control irregular migration and to ensure that returns are functioning, fast but humanely.”
Johansson also called for the deportations of rejected asylum seekers to be made more effective. EU countries should “recognize any return decision that another EU country has already taken on the person concerned”.
Bavaria’s Prime Minister Markus Söder (CSU) called for development aid to be cut for those countries that do not take back rejected asylum seekers. Municipalities and states are at the breaking point when it comes to migration, he told the “Bild am Sonntag”. The number of so-called safe countries of origin must also be expanded.
