From BZ/dpa
Berlin is expecting significantly more refugees by the end of the year. Accommodation options are already virtually non-existent – there is a potential shortfall of around 4,500 places.
There is a risk of a bottleneck in the accommodation of refugees in Berlin if additional capacity is not created quickly. In terms of asylum seekers alone, a further 9,200 to 10,300 people are expected by the end of the year, said the State Secretary for Social Affairs, Aziz Bozkurt (SPD).
The number of asylum seekers has so far been 40 percent higher than the previous year. From the beginning of August it increased noticeably again, including an increasing number of people of Kurdish descent from Turkey.
Bozkurt, currently deputy head of the State Office for Refugee Affairs (LAF), expects that around 3,500 of the asylum seekers will have to stay in Berlin and be accommodated. In addition, another 1,000 war refugees from Ukraine are expected by the end of the year, for whom accommodation options are needed.
Since the capacities in Berlin are currently exhausted, the bottom line is that there is a lack of 4,500 places that need to be created. From Bozkurt’s point of view, this can only be achieved with an expansion of the accommodation capacities in the areas of the former Tegel and Tempelhof airports and with a significantly more intensive use of hotels and hostels.
Aziz Bozkurt (SPD), State Secretary for Youth, Family and School Digitalization Photo: picture alliance/dpa
This year alone, around 6,000 places have been created, said Bozkurt. However, given the development in the number of refugees, this is not enough.
“We are completely full”
“We are completely full.” The LAF made a forecast in April that, depending on developments, all places in the shared accommodation could be occupied in December or at the beginning of September. The worst-case scenario has now occurred.
Bozkurt pointed out that the situation in the LAF was not easy either. The former LAF boss Alexander Straßmeir left in 2022, the acting president, Carina Harms, announced in mid-May that she would be leaving the state office at the end of June.
In early summer, numerous department heads and two department heads were vacant. “We had a lot of challenges with the staff.” The two managers have now been selected for the department heads and almost everything is also complete for the department heads.
On Tuesday, the Senate task force on the accommodation and integration of refugees also wanted to address the issue and look for solutions to the problems.