The increasing number of refugees in winter will be a challenge for German cities and municipalities. According to the German Association of Cities, the capacity in many cities has already been exhausted. The committee is therefore demanding more rent-free real estate and money from the federal government.
In view of the rapidly increasing number of refugees, Germany's cities and communities are sounding the alarm. "We can clearly see that the capacity in many cities has been exhausted," Helmut Dedy, chief executive of the German Association of Cities, told the Süddeutsche Zeitung. The association calls for immediate help.
"The federal and state governments must provide more of their own real estate, unbureaucratically and rent-free, for accommodating refugees," Dedy demanded. In addition, the federal government must contribute more than before to the costs of integration, for which it has so far not paid "a cent".
The cities expect that the number of people fleeing will continue to grow. "In view of the winter and the ongoing war in Ukraine, it is likely that more refugees will come to Germany," predicts Gerd Landsberg, the general manager of the German Association of Towns and Municipalities.
The nature of the warfare speaks for this development, because Russia is destroying infrastructure in a targeted manner, said Landsberg. He continued that more people would also come to Germany from other regions - such as Afghanistan or African countries.
Criticism of Federal Interior Minister Nancy Faeser in migration policy came from the German police union. Its deputy boss Manuel Ostermann said in the "Bild" newspaper: "Germany is again the center of the migration crisis." "The introduction of border controls, the enforcement of the enforceable obligation to leave the country and the will not to legalize illegal migration through the back door" now have priority.
