BERLIN (dpa-AFX) – The President of the German District Association, Reinhard Sager, has urgently called for more help from the federal and state governments for the accommodation of refugees. “It should be checked whether the federal and state governments can jointly finance accommodation options that are primarily built for disaster or civil protection purposes,” Sager told the editorial network Germany. In the current situation, these could be used to accommodate refugees.
According to him, national arrival centers under the responsibility of the federal government should also be considered. At the same time, the federal states would have to expand their initial reception capacities and ensure that asylum seekers with no prospect of staying would not be redistributed to the municipal level. “We also need relief through the repatriation of those who are obliged to leave the country. The repatriation offensive announced in the coalition agreement must be initiated immediately,” said Sager.
He was referring to the coalition agreement between the SPD, the Greens and the FDP. It says: “Not every person who comes to us can stay. We are launching a repatriation offensive to implement departures more consistently, in particular the deportation of criminals and people who are dangerous.”
In view of the recent increase in the number of refugees from Ukraine and other countries, the municipalities have repeatedly appealed to the federal government to take responsibility. At a summit in February, the federal, state and local governments agreed on better coordination on the accommodation and care of refugees. Federal Interior Minister Nancy Faeser (SPD) said at the time that there would be further talks around Easter about possible additional financial aid from the federal government to cope with the tasks./bg/DP/he
