Berlin’s Governing Mayor Franziska Giffey (SPD) has announced the opening of another arrival center for refugees from Ukraine.
“We have a lot of people arriving and being accommodated in the Reinickendorf arrival center, but that won’t be enough either. That’s why we are in the process of preparing a larger arrival center,” said Giffey on Monday in Berlin after she and Federal Interior Minister Nancy Faeser (SPD) had visited the provisional arrival center in Berlin’s main train station.
The other arrival center will “in all probability go online after the end of the week,” explained Giffey.
In the future, she expects that even more people will come to Berlin every day. “It is quite clear that Berlin is the main arrival point. Berlin is the gateway to Europe, to Germany,” said the Governing Mayor.
In the future, initial registration, advice and vaccinations as well as medical care for the refugees will be made possible in a large arrival center.
The supply tent that has already been set up on Washingtonplatz in front of Berlin Central Station will be opened on Tuesday, added Faeser. “It’s good if people here can leave the train station tomorrow and are welcomed here. They are highly traumatized by Russia’s military attack on Ukraine,” she said.
Interior Minister Faeser wants to distribute refugees earlier
The Federal Minister of the Interior is also looking for ways to distribute the refugees from Ukraine to different federal states as early as possible. One is in intensive talks with the railways and the federal states, she said.
“We sit together with the states every day.” It’s about creating opportunities for refugees to find accommodation in the Federal Republic, not just in Berlin. “Because Berlin cannot do this alone,” said Faeser.
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The federal police are helping, for example, with the question of how the refugees could be distributed differently when they arrive in Frankfurt/Oder or in Poland itself. But understanding within Europe is also important.
“When it comes to the division, we also have to look across Europe at how we treat each other fairly and in solidarity,” said Faeser. “That’s why I’m going to Poland on Thursday with my French interior minister colleague.” She wants to get an impression of the situation there.
with dpa