By Michael Sauerbier
The flow of refugees to Germany does not stop. From January to September, the federal police registered 92,119 people who entered the country illegally, the highest number since the 2015/16 refugee crisis. But Brandenburg does not set its admission target high.
The police arrested 21,366 illegal refugees in September alone. More than twice as many as in July (10,714). After just nine months, the number has already exceeded that of the entire previous year: in 2022, 91,986 people crossed the borders without an entry or residence permit. Only after the outbreak of the Syrian war in 2015 did more people enter the country without permission.
Brandenburg is particularly hard hit – because of its long border with Poland. By Friday evening, 13,000 refugees had been registered here since the beginning of the year. According to the Potsdam Interior Ministry, 8,300 of them entered the country illegally.
“Around 500 are added every week,” said Olaf Jansen (63), head of the central immigration authority ZABH, to the BZ. The fixed border controls since the beginning of last week have not changed anything: 359 new arrivals were counted from Monday to Friday.
Brandenburg’s Social Minister Ursula Nonnemacher (66, Green Party) lowered the admission target for cities and districts in the summer Photo: Paul Zinken/dpa
The 4,433 places in the initial reception centers are now 95 percent occupied. The country is now working hard to build residential containers with 1,500 more places. Since July, only refugees with good chances of staying have been distributed to cities and districts. But their number is increasing. ZABH boss Jansen: “The recognition rate has risen from 25 to 60 percent within two years.”
Unfortunate: Because fewer refugees came from Ukraine this year than in 2022, Brandenburg reduced the municipalities’ admission target from almost 26,000 to a good 19,000 in the summer. The steep rise in autumn was not yet foreseeable. Now the initial intakes are suddenly full.
However, there are currently no plans to increase the admission target again, said the Ministry of Social Affairs on Sunday in response to a BZ query. “We are monitoring the numbers very closely and regularly coordinate with the Ministry of the Interior,” said a spokesman. The question will then be discussed with the Ministry of Finance at the beginning of November.
But even if 500 new refugees per week continue to arrive by the end of the year, total arrivals this year would not exceed the planned 19,000. Good for cities and districts, bad for all refugees who have to stay in the initial reception for up to 18 months: The planned language and training courses, which are intended to increase their chances of staying, cannot currently take place. Due to the full capacity, there is a lack of space and staff.