Federal Minister of the Interior Nancy Faeser (SPD) defends against criticism from some countries, especially Berlin, that the federal government does not adequately control the distribution of refugees from Ukraine.

"We distributed from the beginning," she said on Tuesday.

This is now happening more intensely.

For the distribution of refugees who have already registered and are not accommodated privately, the Königsteiner key is now used, which determines the admission quota of the federal states according to population and tax revenue.

Helen Bubrowski

Political correspondent in Berlin.

  • Follow I follow

Pure burger

Political correspondent in North Rhine-Westphalia.

  • Follow I follow

Ruediger Soldt

Political correspondent in Baden-Württemberg.

  • Follow I follow

According to the Federal Ministry of the Interior, 160,000 war refugees from Ukraine have been registered in Germany to date.

Because there are no stationary controls on the German-Polish border, the number is not reliable.

People with a Ukrainian passport can initially move freely in the EU for 90 days, which now also applies to Ukrainians without a biometric document.

Many only register with the immigration authorities when they apply for state benefits.

The Federal Office for Migration and Refugees (BAMF) provides support with the registration, the Technical Relief Agency (THW) helps with the care of the people.

Even before the time of registration, refugees are distributed to the countries.

The current procedure provides for the states to report their capacities to the federal government on a voluntary basis.

Because some countries are reaching their limits, hardly any quotas have recently been reported.

Therefore, there are considerations that the federal government will in future also assign this group of people to the federal states according to a fixed key.

Joachim Stamp, the North Rhine-Westphalian refugee minister from the FDP, spoke of "close coordination with the federal government".

"There must be a solidarity distribution," said Stamp of the FAZ

Stamp: Solidarity distribution in Europe

The minister went on to say that the principle of solidarity-based distribution must apply not only to Germany, but also in Europe and internationally.

"We will not be able to ensure the supply of hundreds of thousands who will come in a very short time for much longer," warned Stamp, in whose state alone 17,000 refugees are now quartered in state-owned accommodation.

In addition, there are several thousand refugees who have found shelter with acquaintances, relatives or in community homes.

"Chancellor Scholz must immediately invite French President Macron to a European summit," said Stamp.

“Putin wants to destabilize us with refugee flows.

We have to find a humanitarian answer to this." That will only work "if large numbers of refugees are distributed internationally directly from Poland.

Every day counts now.” At the end of the week, a Council meeting of EU interior ministers will take place.

In Baden-Württemberg, too, the number of Ukrainian refugees accommodated in state facilities has skyrocketed.

So far, 5,031 Ukrainian war refugees have been accommodated in the state initial reception facilities.

A total of 7,000 of the 9,800 places that were increased by around 3,000 shortly after the beginning of the war are currently occupied.

Before the start of the war, only 2,500 places were occupied in the initial reception facilities.

uncertainties during registration

In Meßstetten, a former state initial reception facility has been re-established after lengthy discussions with the municipality.

To coordinate the reception of refugees, the green-black state government has set up a special staff at the Ministry of Migration and a steering group at the State Ministry.

It is still unclear how the refugees should register: Because many of them are staying with friends and relatives, they are not admitted to the central registration line in Heidelberg, which was set up at the end of 2015 during the refugee crisis.

It is now being discussed whether there should be a special registration center for each district for refugees from the Ukraine or whether they should register with the local immigration authorities.

Unlike in North Rhine-Westphalia, the Ministry of Migration assesses the situation in the southwest as less dramatic.

The state government expects the federal government to improve the registration requirements so that refugees can be registered using the "Easy" system.