Saxony-Anhalt: State suspends minimum standard for refugee accommodation

Magdeburg (dpa/sa) - Saxony-Anhalt has for some time overridden the minimum requirements for the accommodation of refugees in communal accommodation.

Saxony-Anhalt: State suspends minimum standard for refugee accommodation

Magdeburg (dpa/sa) - Saxony-Anhalt has for some time overridden the minimum requirements for the accommodation of refugees in communal accommodation. According to the Ministry of the Interior, the aim is to suspend the right to seven square meters of living space. However, the "relaxation" of this rule should continue to enable decent accommodation, said a spokeswoman for the ministry on Tuesday. The "Mitteldeutsche Zeitung" previously reported.

The general conditions have been suspended since the beginning of January, the spokeswoman said. The “easing” is limited to the end of June. For about a year now, more refugees, especially from the Ukraine, have been coming to Saxony-Anhalt. Some districts and municipalities recently complained that they were at the capacity limit.

The state's immigration officer, Susi Möbbeck (SPD), recently seemed to be taking a much more relaxed view of the situation. "If there isn't another major increase in refugee migration from Ukraine, we can control and shape it," she said in an interview a few days ago.

According to the guidelines, which have been in force since 2013, rooms are to be occupied by a maximum of four people, with at least seven, in exceptional cases six, square meters of space available for each person. From September 1, 2015 to December 31, 2016, these requirements were no longer in force.