The State Office for Refugee Affairs in Reinickendorf is responsible for the registration, care and accommodation of asylum seekers Photo: Olaf Selchow
By Pauline von Pezold
The State Office for Refugee Affairs (LAF) on Oranienburger Straße in Berlin-Reinickendorf is the first point of contact for them. Around 120 asylum seekers of all nationalities arrive there every day.
While Tegel is the arrival center for war refugees from Ukraine, all asylum seekers are first registered in Reinickendorf, medically examined and distributed to emergency accommodation.
Due to a severe lack of space, asylum seekers have also had to be accommodated in Tegel with the Ukrainians for two weeks – but separately from them. Evgeni D., Baleria M. and Modou L. have arrived in Tegel. Like everyone in Germany, they hope for a better future.
Evgeni D. (26) comes from Moscow and has been in Germany for seven weeks. He came to Berlin alone by plane via Tbilisi (Georgia). He left his family behind in Siberia. “I know Russia – the system, the people. “It’s too aggressive for me, it’s not for me,” he says Photo: Olaf Selchow
Baleria M. (23) comes from Venezuela and has been in Germany for two months. Her mother has been living in Berlin for two years and now she hopes to be able to stay with her. However, which city in Germany she ends up in is out of her control. “In Venezuela there is nothing for me – nothing to eat, nothing to drink. The situation there is simply difficult,” she says Photo: Olaf Selchow
Modou L. (28) comes from Gambia (West Africa) and has been in Berlin for a week. He took a long journey to get here. From Gambia to Tunisia, from there to Italy and then on to Germany. “It’s not easy in Gambia. We have a lot of problems there, that’s why I came here. I had to leave my wife and my little son behind. Only God knows if I’ll be able to bring her home with me at some point,” he says. He worked as a taxi driver in Gambia and now hopes to be able to do his job here too Photo: Olaf Selchow