Magdeburg (dpa/sa) - According to its own statements, Saxony-Anhalt fulfills its obligations to accept asylum seekers and refugees. The state will continue to comply with these, said a spokeswoman for the Ministry of the Interior in Magdeburg on Thursday.
The day before, Berlin's Senator for Integration, Katja Kipping (left), complained that "almost all other federal states" were no longer accepting asylum seekers. Berlin has therefore had to cushion this for some time. This is often justified with the burden of taking in Ukrainian refugees who do not have to apply for asylum. Kipping put the first stage of an emergency plan for accommodating refugees into effect on Wednesday.
The Ministry of the Interior in Magdeburg said that Kipping should "name horses and riders and not sweepingly defame other federal states that - like Saxony-Anhalt - are fulfilling their obligations".
Normally, asylum seekers are divided among the countries based on their population according to the so-called Königstein key. According to their admission quota, the federal states have to provide the necessary number of accommodation places. The acceptance rate for Saxony-Anhalt is around 2.7 percent. Around 1,800 places are currently available for accommodating asylum seekers, of which a good 1,200 were occupied at the end of June.
According to the ministry, Saxony-Anhalt took in more than 1,900 asylum seekers in the first half of the year. The number has almost doubled compared to January to June 2021. The federal state has also taken in over 360 local Afghan workers and Afghans who are particularly at risk, as well as their relatives.
When it came to taking in war refugees from the Ukraine, Saxony-Anhalt relied on reports from the municipalities from the outset. So far, the rural districts and urban districts have taken in more than 25,000 war refugees. According to the Ministry of the Interior, Saxony-Anhalt is well above the admission quota according to the Königstein key and therefore does not receive any admissions controlled by the federal government. However, refugees continue to arrive in the country every day, mostly on private initiative, it said. In the middle of the week, two war refugees were accommodated in the country's temporary accommodation.
