In view of the increasing number of refugees, the federal government wants to make 56 additional federal properties available to the states and municipalities for the accommodation of 4,000 refugees. Federal Minister of the Interior Nancy Faeser (SPD) also announced that controls at the border between Bavaria and Austria would be extended beyond November after a top-level meeting with representatives of the federal states and municipalities on Tuesday. The Serbian government called on her on behalf of the federal government to stop visa-free entry for nationals of many third countries, which had led to an increase in unauthorized entry into the EU.
Faeser did not make any financial commitments. How the federal government wants to contribute financially to the refugee costs is to be clarified in a federal-state meeting at the beginning of November. The minister also made no predictions as to how many refugees will come to Germany this year. She said: “We cannot foresee how Russia’s criminal war of aggression will continue.”
The chairman of the conference of interior ministers, Bavaria’s head of department Joachim Herrmann (CSU), said that the provision of further federal real estate must be pushed ahead at high speed in view of the acute bottlenecks. He welcomed the extension of border controls.
“The increasingly tense situation when it comes to taking in refugees requires that all possibilities be used. It is unacceptable that people have to be accommodated in gyms again as long as capacities are available,” said the Greens migration expert Filiz Polat.
The Vice President of the German Association of Cities, Leipzig Mayor Burkhard Jung, said the situation was very critical in some places. Tent cities have already been erected in Leipzig. In Dresden, an exhibition hall must be used for accommodation. The situation is comparable to the years of the so-called refugee crisis in 2015 and 2016. Caring for the many unaccompanied minors is also a major challenge.
At the same time, Jung emphasized the great willingness of the majority of the population to help. He condemned demonstrators who insulted Ukrainian refugees in Leipzig on Monday evening. The SPD politician said that among the demonstrators were conspiracy theorists, citizens of the Reich, enemies of democracy and people who show understanding for Russian President Vladimir Putin. From this crowd, anger was released against refugees “who supposedly have it better, also from Ukraine, whom I unequivocally condemn, who I find unbearable”.
Faeser said that the 300 federal properties that have been offered so far have only been 68 percent occupied. However, she acknowledged that renovations are usually necessary before they can be used for refugees.
According to the federal government, almost 135,000 people applied for asylum from the beginning of the year to September, almost 35 percent more than in the same period last year. In addition, since the Russian war of aggression began on February 24, around one million refugees from Ukraine who can enter the country without a visa and who do not have to apply for asylum to stay legally have had to be accommodated. Faeser had already stated before the meeting that her goal was to reduce the number of unauthorized entries via the so-called Balkan route.
Before the meeting, there was resentment because some of the federal states and local authorities did not feel sufficiently involved in important decision-making processes. Here Faeser promised improvement.
