More and more people are fleeing the war in Ukraine – including to Germany. An exact number cannot be given due to the lack of border controls, and the municipalities are urgently asking for help.
Berlin – The number of Ukrainian war refugees seeking protection in Germany has again increased significantly. The municipalities have therefore called for rapid clarification of the distribution and also for help.
According to the Federal Ministry of the Interior, the federal police had already registered 37,786 refugees from Ukraine across Germany by Sunday – almost 10,000 more than the previous day. However, a spokesman for the ministry pointed out that the actual number could be significantly higher, since the data from the federal police would only show part of it.
Call for distribution key
“The cities expect that the number of refugees from Ukraine coming to Germany will increase rapidly,” said Markus Lewe, president of the city council, of the “Rheinische Post”. The federal and state governments must quickly ensure an even distribution.
The German Association of Towns and Municipalities is also calling for quick help. “We now need a distribution key for the refugees from Ukraine very quickly,” said managing director Gerd Landsberg of the “Rheinische Post”. He also expects the federal and state governments to fully finance the care for the refugees.
Berlin’s Governing Mayor Franziska Giffey is also putting pressure on. “We need help from the federal government now. It’s about hours – so that we can continue to help people reasonably,” said the SPD politician to the “Tagesspiegel”. There is no national coordination yet. “Berlin can’t do it alone,” said Giffey.
The parliamentary group leader of the left in the Bundestag, Dietmar Bartsch, called for a “national plan for the admission, distribution and accommodation of refugees from Ukraine throughout Germany” from the coalition. Bartsch spoke in the editorial network Germany (RND) of a “historical challenge for Germany”. The federal government should bear the costs of the federal states and local authorities.
Border controls required
In view of the many people seeking protection, the German Police Union (DPolG) called for regular controls at the German borders with Poland and the Czech Republic. So far, the Ministry of the Interior has only said that the federal police are increasingly checking “the eastern internal borders” but are not carrying out any regular border controls.
Interior Minister Nancy Faeser (SPD) justifies the waiver of regular border controls with the special current situation. The situation of the Ukrainian war refugees is not comparable to previous situations, the SPD politician confirmed on Sunday in the ARD “Report from Berlin”. “It’s about war in Europe, about war refugees. It’s a completely different situation than in 2015,” said Faeser.
In order to offer the Ukrainians in Germany and the other EU countries protection as unbureaucratically as possible, the European Union put a directive into force for the first time on Friday for the case of a “mass influx” of displaced persons. The protection for people from Ukraine is therefore initially for one year, but can be extended by a total of two more years. A lengthy asylum procedure is not necessary. Those seeking protection have a direct right to social benefits, education, housing and a work permit.
Also job opportunities in the medium term
The hospitality industry also sees job opportunities for refugees from Ukraine in the medium term. The general manager of the German Hotel and Restaurant Association (Dehoga), Ingrid Hartges, told the newspapers of the Funke media group that rapid emergency aid was the priority. “In the medium term”, the hospitality industry could make a contribution to helping war refugees integrate into the German labor market. The industry offers good opportunities for this.
However, the head of the Verdi service union, Frank Werneke, warned in the Funke newspapers: “In view of the brutal war in Ukraine, the question of whether war refugees in Germany can be used on the labor market in the current situation seems inappropriate, even downright indecent.” Help is the priority. In the past, it has been shown that refugees have often been pushed into precarious jobs – mostly because of the language barrier or a lack of qualifications.
Federal Finance Minister Christian Lindner spoke out in favor of giving the refugees “immediate access to education and the job market”. The FDP leader expects refugees from Ukraine to “be able to be integrated quickly and easily” because of their qualifications. “As things stand today, the social consequences will be different than in the refugee crisis of 2015,” Lindner told RND. dpa
#refugees #Germany