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A municipality at the breaking point - in the municipality of Niederzier in North Rhine-Westphalia, there has been a stop to the admission of refugees for several weeks. The reason: There are hardly any accommodations available.
The village has 14,000 inhabitants. Since 2015, around 850 assigned people have been living here. In the meantime, the number of newly arriving refugees has decreased, but in recent months it has risen again to about ten per week.
Frank Rombey, Mayor of Niederzier
"It's just difficult. We want to help, that's what we're known for. Of course, we want to honour our obligations, and we do so in keeping with them. But it's just very, very frustrating for me, for our staff, for everybody, including in the community, because, as I said, we want to help. But the breaking point has been exceeded by far."
By February 2022, the integration had been managed well. Then came the Ukraine war - and with it more people. Now new living space is needed. An administration building is to be converted.
Frank Rombey, Mayor of Niederzier
"Around 30 people will be accommodated here. However, with the high reception capacity, anyone can easily calculate how quickly this facility will be full again."
Rombey's demand to the federal government is clear:
Frank Rombey, Mayor of Niederzier
"We have now raised a total of 6.1 million euros for the construction of the containers, but also for the two permanent accommodations here in Niederzier and Selhausen. We did this with credit financing. The cash register is empty. And accordingly, the demand is very clear: we need money. Then the second demand is also quite clear, at the federal level, and also at the state level more capacities must be created. More people need to be accommodated in state and federal shelters."
The federal and state governments now want to comply with this demand. The central decision of the migration summit is that the federal states and municipalities are to be significantly relieved of the burden of refugee costs: the federal government wants to pay 7500,<> euros per asylum seeker per year as a lump sum. In addition, authorities and courts are to process asylum procedures much faster in the future.
In Berlin, too, the number of refugees rose again. According to the Senator for Integration, 200 people seeking protection have recently arrived every day. At the former Berlin Tegel Airport, the large-scale accommodation for first-time applicants is therefore being expanded. At the moment there are about 4600 beds available, 3000 more places are planned.
According to the Federal Office for Migration and Refugees, more than 233,000 people in Germany had submitted initial applications for asylum by September of this year - significantly more than in the entire previous year. In addition, more than one million refugees from Ukraine who do not have to apply for asylum have been admitted.