Hardly any refugee accommodation and the situation in the municipalities is getting worse: the Bavarian district administrator Karmasin is disappointed with the course of the refugee summit.
Berlin – On the day that the Minister of the Interior and representatives of the municipal umbrella organizations meet in Berlin for the refugee summit, a letter from the municipality of Maisach lands on Thomas Karmasin's desk.
The CSU politician is not only President of the Bavarian District Council, but also District Administrator in Fürstenfeldbruck.
He knows first-hand how difficult it is for local authorities to find more accommodation.
On that day, Maisach announced that he would not take in any more people.
It is no longer affordable, writes the mayor.
There is not only a lack of space, but also of heads and hands for integration.
Almost at the same time, Federal Interior Minister Nancy Faseser (SPD) is discussing ways to relieve the local authorities in Berlin.
She speaks of a great effort that can only be shouldered together.
Say sentences like "We stand side by side." The decisions that will be announced in the early afternoon are not what district administrators and mayors had hoped for.
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Federal Minister of the Interior Nancy Faeser received representatives of the federal states for the refugee summit in Berlin yesterday.
© Kay Nietfeld
Fürstenfeldbruck's district administrator Thomas Karmasin after the refugee summit: "Solutions are missing"
The federal, state and local governments want to work more closely together on refugee accommodation in the future.
A joint committee is to present the first results on further accommodation options by Easter.
Faeser promises pragmatic solutions, around 70,000 places.
Rent-free, the federal government wants to shoulder possible renovation costs.
She also announces increased measures at federal German borders and promises to work for a better distribution of refugees throughout Europe.
For the time being, however, there should not be more money than the 2.75 billion euros provided for in the 2023 budget.
Reinhard Sager, President of the German District Association, criticizes this just a few minutes after the summit.
"In Germany we urgently need relief for those who bear municipal responsibility," he emphasizes.
Shortly thereafter, he dials into a video conference with the district presidents of the federal states.
Thomas Karmasin is also there.
"It's all taking far too long," says the Fürstenfeldbrucker soberly afterwards.
The summit brought neither short-term help with accommodation nor concrete commitments on how to proceed.
"There are also no solutions for a better distribution of the refugees." He does not believe that Berlin has sufficiently understood how great the need in the municipalities is now.
Bavaria: 93 percent of the refugee accommodations are occupied - the Bavarian district administrator is worried
In some states it is higher than in others.
In Bavaria, 93 percent of the accommodations are currently fully occupied, in Hesse or Saxony not even half.
This is also due to the escape route via Italy, explains Karmasin.
The willingness to help on site is still great, but the capacities are exhausted.
"It is inhumane to house the refugees in halls or tents for months," he emphasizes.
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Karmasin worries that the mood of the population will change at some point.
Especially on days when letters like the one from Maisach reach him.
"I take it very seriously," he says.
"But as a district administrator, I can't take that into account.
Refugees will continue to arrive where there is still accommodation.” In Maisach, an initial reception facility for Ukrainians was recently set up, and 94 people are currently living there.
In addition, there is a tent with beds for 90 refugees.
“It is inhumane to accommodate the refugees in halls or tents for months.
Fürstenfeldbruck's District Administrator Thomas Karmasin
Karmasin would have liked a perspective from Berlin.
An announcement of how many people can still be admitted in Germany.
And clear commitments to finance the integration.
“But for that,” he emphasizes, “the chancellor should have come to the summit.
The Federal Minister of the Interior cannot say anything about the finances.” The local umbrella organizations had already criticized in advance that Olaf Scholz had a busy schedule for the asylum summit.
Yesterday morning he visited a bakery in Hanover to discuss the increased energy prices.
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List of rubrics: © Kay Nietfeld