The city of Weilheim is to be declared a “safe haven” - as a “symbol against the current Europe-wide isolation from refugees”.
This was requested by four city council members by means of an urgency motion.
Because the consequences were unclear, the matter was postponed for the time being.
Four city council members made an urgency request on Thursday evening
They wanted to achieve that Weilheim is named a "safe haven"
But there are still questions to be clarified as to why the application was postponed
Weilheim - You have to "set a sign of humanity", urgently, as the "dramatic circumstances in Moria" showed.
With this appeal, four representatives of three groups - Petra Arneth-Mangano (SPD), Brigitte Gronau (Greens), Horst Martin (SPD) and Gerd Ratter (ÖDP) - presented an "urgent motion" at the city council meeting on Thursday evening: The committee should "Decide that the city of Weilheim is declared a 'safe haven' for people who have been rescued from distress at sea".
Tutzing and Munich have also declared themselves a "safe haven"
In Germany alone, 183 cities and municipalities have already done this, said Arneth-Mangano, the city council representative for refugees, asylum and integration: in the surrounding area, for example, Munich and Tutzing.
They did not want to continue to accept the fact that there is in fact no more sea rescue from the official side and at the same time private rescue ships "are not allowed to enter a European port" - which means death for thousands of people in the Mediterranean.
For the Weilheim applicants it is also clear: "This condition is inhumane."
The readiness to be a “safe haven” means that in the name of the Weilheim citizens “a decriminalization of sea rescue and new state rescue missions are demanded”.
And: “Refugees should be welcomed in Weilheim, and indeed more than the number of refugees allocated according to the 'Königsteiner Key'.” The city council must determine how many people rescued from distress at sea, and “a refugee is conceivable per 1000 inhabitants ".
The district is responsible for housing refugees
Karin Groß, head of the Weilheim town hall, said that the district responsible for accommodating refugees was of course: "Towns belonging to the district cannot request their own allocation." BfW spokeswoman Brigitte Holeczek to postpone the topic for the time being.
Your group supports the humanitarian cause (“You don't let people drown”) and you also want to send “a signal to our government”.
But first it should be checked what Weilheim could actually do itself.
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The ÖDP is too one-sided.
City councilor Gerd Ratter has now applied for a needs and vacancy analysis to be carried out for Weilheim.
Because the decision "could have budgetary implications", it could not be taken immediately, added Stefan Zirngibl (CSU).
And Alfred Honisch (Greens), who served as the city council's asylum advisor until May, emphasized that the application had to be “revised again”.
The system of refugee distribution is simply "knitted differently".
On the other hand, Honisch's parliamentary group colleague Brigitte Gronau fought for an immediate decision: For the time being, it was only about a "symbolic act of human dignity", and that was urgent.
What exactly will be implemented in terms of the “safe haven” can be discussed later.
However, Holeczek's motion for an adjournment had to be voted on.
The city council accepted this - against the votes of Gronau, Ratter, Arneth-Mangano and Ullrich Klinkicht (Weilheim Mit einem).
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