The influx of Ukrainian war refugees is not abating. The municipalities need more money to accommodate and care for the people. The City Day demands plain text about what the local authorities can expect in the new year.
Düsseldorf (dpa / lnw) - In view of the ongoing war in Ukraine, the North Rhine-Westphalian Association of Cities is demanding clear guidelines from the state as to how many places for refugees are to be reserved on site. "The state must take political responsibility and must no longer duck away," said the state chairman of the city council, Essen's mayor Thomas Kufen (CDU), the German press agency in Düsseldorf. "If the country increases its capacity to at least 70,000 places, we'll get through the winter," calculated the CDU politician.
So far, the state government has announced an increase in capacity in the state reception facilities to initially 34,500 places and an unspecified further expansion. "It helps that the country is significantly expanding the number of places in its own reception facilities. But we need more speed and a big leap," demanded Kufen.
"We have to assume that the war in Ukraine will continue. That's why we need good crisis management in the country in the new year," said the city council chairman. "We have to move away from ad hoc decisions."
The state should work even more closely with those responsible on site on urgent local political issues. "The cities are aware of their responsibility and take in refugees from Ukraine and other countries of origin with great commitment," assured Kufen.
"So far, the cities have been left alone when they have to decide on the purchase of container villages or tent cities or extend leases for hotels or exhibition halls," he criticized. "The country also has to bear the costs for these reserve places." The cities needed quick decisions on how the federal refugee allocations would be distributed in the new year and where the state would increase.
