CDU: Berlin needs more large locations for refugees

From BZ/dpa

A large number of refugees continue to come to Berlin. Accommodation is increasingly difficult. The CDU parliamentary group is calling for more large locations.

According to Dirk Stettner, Berlin’s CDU parliamentary group leader, more large locations are needed to accommodate refugees in the city. He was also very much in favor of accommodating people in smaller, modular residential buildings in a decentralized manner, he told the “Berliner Morgenpost” (Wednesday). “But we have to be honest about what works and what doesn’t.”

The construction of additional modular shelters for refugees (MUFs), for which land has yet to be found in the districts, does not solve the problem quickly enough, according to Stettner. “That’s why we need more large locations,” said the CDU politician. “The accommodation options on Tempelhofer Feld are the most likely to be expanded.”

High number of refugees expected in the coming months

In view of the large number of refugees who are also expected in the coming months, Stettner believes that quick action is required. “That’s why we have to identify and prepare large locations like Tempelhof,” said the CDU parliamentary group leader. In addition, the use of the former Tegel Airport for refugees must be extended beyond 2024. “That will continue to be needed,” said Stettner.

Governing Mayor Kai Wegner (CDU) and Integration Senator Cansel Kiziltepe (SPD) announced last week that the refugees would remain in Tegel until at least 2024. Wegner and Kiziltepe jointly lead the new task force for the accommodation and integration of refugees in Berlin.

The number of refugees has already increased sharply in 2022: on the one hand more asylum seekers came, on the other tens of thousands of people from Ukraine, against whom Russia has been waging a war of aggression since February 2022. The trend continues.

According to the State Office for Refugees, more than 10,000 refugees came to Berlin by the end of April: 3,866 asylum seekers and 6,484 people from Ukraine.

According to the social and integration administration, an additional 10,000 to 12,000 places will be needed this year to ensure accommodation for the newcomers.

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