Dresden (dpa / sn) - Saxony's Interior Minister Armin Schuster (CDU) expects a new wave of refugees from Ukraine in winter. It could happen if the Russian terrorist attacks on the Ukrainian infrastructure continued, he said on Tuesday after the cabinet meeting in Dresden. If that happens, Saxony will and must remain receptive.
However, it would be valuable if there were a "brake effect" on illegal entry from other countries. Therefore, there should be no more additional admission programs for refugees. If there is no other way, you have to set priorities.
"We are concentrating on Ukraine," said Schuster. The federal government should provide relief with a repatriation offensive, and Tunisia and Georgia should be listed as safe countries of origin. In addition, the minister considers it necessary to put pressure on Serbia, which allows visa-free entry for refugees from several countries of origin, and on the Schengen partners.
According to Schuster, the Saxon cabinet spent three and a half hours on the subject of security on Tuesday morning. Hans-Eckhard Sommer, President of the Federal Office for Migration and Refugees, was also invited.
According to Schuster, there are currently around 30,000 asylum applications nationwide every month. This year, the mark of 200,000 asylum seekers will probably be exceeded. This does not include war refugees from Ukraine. The minister put their number at up to 1.2 million.
According to Schuster, Saxony has so far taken in almost 57,000 Ukrainian nationals. About 90 percent of them are housed in apartments. That also explains difficulties on the Saxon housing market. From January to October, the number of refugees increased tenfold.
Schuster spoke of a great challenge. There are currently almost 8,000 places in initial reception facilities in the Free State. Utilization is currently 60 percent because all reserves have been exhausted. The big cities in Saxony would already have to work with provisional solutions.
