Almost a thousand new refugees from Ukraine were housed in emergency shelters in the state of Berlin on Saturday night.
A spokesman for the Senate Social Administration said that 945 beds were occupied in two halls on the exhibition grounds.
A third and fourth hall is also scheduled to go into operation on Saturday. They are intended for refugees who arrive late in the evening or at night.
In addition, 2,600 people stayed in the main station on trains, BVG buses and in two large tents, the spokesman said. These people stayed at the train station voluntarily because they wanted to continue their journey on Saturday.
In the future, the catering for the refugees at the main train station will be taken over and paid for by the federal government and Berlin. Together with the fair, 10,000 portions of food are to be provided per day: soup, sandwiches, fruit, sweets, tea and water.
It is not known how many refugees arrived on Friday and Saturday in total, because only some of the people register and often continue on their own or visit relatives or friends.
The spokesman said the numbers are expected to continue to rise. “It’s getting more difficult every day because there’s a lack of capacity.”
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A further 500 emergency overnight places will be completed on the site of the former Tegel Airport.
The new arrival center should open there as soon as possible, but that will no longer happen at the weekend, but in the coming week.
The Senate is still waiting for support from the federal government for the planned registration and the organization of the onward journey by bus.