The federal and state governments are committed to giving Ukraine refugees protection, accommodation and a little perspective. Chancellor Scholz assured the states of support.
Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) has promised the federal states financial support for the costs of taking in and integrating war refugees from Ukraine. It is a “major task” that the federal, state and local governments are facing together, said Scholz after consultations with the heads of government of the states on Thursday in Berlin. This also extends to financial responsibility. However, no concrete agreements were reached at the meeting.
Most of the refugees are currently being taken in Poland, said Scholz. But the number is also increasing in Germany and “we know there will be many,” he added. The federal states and local authorities are primarily responsible for taking in and caring for refugees. However, they could not cope with the task alone, said the chairman of the Prime Ministers’ Conference, North Rhine-Westphalia’s Prime Minister Hendrik Wüst (CDU).
Proposals are now to be drawn up by a federal-state working group and a decision made at the next prime ministers’ conference on April 7th.
Wüst said that recording capacities are currently being increased everywhere. Berlin’s governing mayor Franziska Giffey (SPD) said the capital had places for 1,000 refugees per month. That’s how many are coming each day.
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Both state representatives called for support from the federal government. Giffey said there must be an overall financing plan. According to their ideas, the federal government should contribute to the costs of accommodation, support for living expenses and for vulnerable groups as well as the costs of integration in day-care centers, schools and the labor market.
Wüst added that it must be ensured that the expellees do not have to stay in initial reception centers for long. “Here come women and children. It’s different from 2015,” he said, referring to the refugee movement at the time, when gymnasiums and similar temporary accommodation became longer-term accommodation. At that time, too, the federal government had provided massive financial support.
Bundeswehr helps
After the meeting, Scholz emphasized that there was agreement that people fleeing violence and bombs should be given protection, medical care and access to the job market and schools quickly and easily. Giffey added that this should also be seen as an opportunity. There are many qualified specialists who were recently lacking in Germany.
According to Giffey, the Ministry of Defense has now also responded to the request to make members of the Bundeswehr available as helpers. According to this, 80 soldiers should support the registration and distribution in the arrival center in the former Berlin Tegel Airport. 200 buses arrive there every day.
The registration of the Ukraine refugees is currently still incomplete in Germany. The federal police carry out random checks at the border and on trains. According to this count, more than 187,000 war refugees have arrived in Germany to date. According to the Federal Ministry of the Interior, more and more people are now being registered in initial reception centres. These refugees are then distributed evenly across the federal states according to a key.
Anyone who finds accommodation privately or travels on to another EU country is currently not included in the statistics. Ukrainian citizens can enter the EU without a visa and stay in the EU for 90 days without an additional permit.