When it comes to taking in refugees from Ukraine, there is currently a tremendous willingness to help and flexibility in the municipalities and districts, but there is also quite a bit of chaos.
Above all, the registration and distribution of people has so far been anything but smooth.
Nobody knows when and how many people will arrive, nor how many are already there.
Nevertheless, it is distributed somehow.
So there is a lot to talk about when Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) and representatives of several ministries meet with the municipal umbrella organizations this Friday afternoon.
Julian Staib
Political correspondent for Hesse, Rhineland-Palatinate and Saarland based in Wiesbaden.
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The confusion is initially due to the residence status of the Ukraine refugees.
Because they can travel wherever they want.
You do not need a visa in the Schengen area.
People come in a variety of ways.
Some stay, others move on at some point.
Many find private accommodation and report to the authorities, while others do not at first.
Many Ukrainians are drawn to the big cities in particular.
To Berlin, for example, but also to Frankfurt.
According to estimates by the city's social department, at least 5,500 Ukrainian refugees have found accommodation there, probably more.
Around one third is housed in municipal facilities, around two thirds privately.
The situation is similar elsewhere.
More speed for problem solving
In addition, those distributed according to the Königstein key arrive in the municipalities.
Theoretically, the number of refugees who are already there is counted towards the distribution, but that doesn’t work well in many places, apparently not at all in Hesse.
The responsible Frankfurt social affairs officer Elke Voitl (Greens), for example, says: “We are assigned people, but cannot report how many are already there”.
So far, there has simply been a lack of a platform for it.
It is also said from Hessian circles that the state will allocate it, but "it is not yet counted".
The Hessian Ministry of the Interior reports that the distribution to the districts and urban districts has been coordinated with the municipal umbrella organizations.
But it is "essential" for a fair distribution that the federal government takes care of the establishment of a proper distribution procedure.
Recently, it has increasingly been observed that the access numbers notified in advance differed from the actual access.
"Only the federal government can meet the legitimate interests of the cities and municipalities in terms of planning their aid measures with a fair distribution and collection system." are in the cities must be taken into account in the distribution.
The solution to the problem must “gain tremendous momentum”.
Another problem in this context is the registration.
Actually, the data of those who report to cities and municipalities or are accommodated in an initial reception center must be recorded in detail, including at so-called PIK stations (personalization infrastructure components).
Fingerprints are taken, a passport photo is taken and other data is recorded.
According to several people in charge, this takes around 40 minutes per person.
But there is a lack of equipment.
Saarland's Minister of the Interior, Klaus Bouillon (CDU), recently said that hundreds of PIK devices were missing nationwide, which is why some federal states had already given up registration and only took passport photos - in order to then simply send people to the municipalities.
That would lead to "significant problems".
The Union demands the registration of all Ukrainians, the Bavarian Interior Minister Joachim Herrmann (CSU) warned of a security gap and called on the other federal states to follow the Bavarian example.
There the police register arriving war refugees and carry out identification measures.
What if Poland can no longer accept refugees?
But Federal Minister of the Interior Nancy Faeser (SPD) refuses to register all those entering the country, citing their right to move freely.
The Association of Cities is now calling for the federal and state governments to register the refugees during their arrival and in the initial reception facilities.
They should also expand registration capacities and review the process.
Many refugees already have biometric passports, so there is no doubt about their identity.
The problems of registration and distribution could quickly become more pressing.
Federal Transport Minister Volker Wissing (FDP) recently warned that Poland's admission options are now "exhausted" and that significantly more refugees can be expected in Germany.
He called on countries to prepare for a possible surge in refugee numbers.
Federal states, districts and municipalities are currently massively expanding their initial reception capacities.
No one can say whether that will be enough.
So far, the number of registered Ukraine refugees is around 280,000, but the actual number of those who have arrived is likely to be higher.
Cities and municipalities are now looking everywhere for living space, renting hotels for accommodation, for example, and reallocating youth hostels.
But in many places people are already being accommodated in emergency shelters such as gyms.
Cities and districts say that many facilities are already full, but of course there are other halls that are currently being prepared.
One is also prepared for significantly increasing numbers.