As of: January 27, 2024, 6:10 a.m
By: Katrin Woitsch
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Around 50 refugees arrive in each district every month.
The numbers will probably increase soon.
© Boris Roessler
Greiling sued against the forced assignment of asylum seekers and won in an expedited procedure.
This will probably not remain an isolated case; Dietramszell is now also taking this route.
The district offices continue to hope for solidarity.
Helmut Hartl doesn't have an easy job.
He has to go where it hurts, he says.
For example, in local council meetings where there are heated discussions about the accommodation of refugees.
He reports that he is occasionally met with great hostility there.
He listens to the criticism with great calm, explains a lot, wants to create transparency - and promote good cooperation.
Hartl is responsible for refugee accommodation in the Weilheim-Schongau district office.
That was the case in 2015, when so many asylum seekers came for the first time.
“Today we have more experience and are more professional,” he says.
At the same time, however, the willingness to help has decreased in many communities.
And the district offices still depend on them.
The Weilheim-Schongau district currently receives 50 refugees per month from the government of Upper Bavaria - the numbers are similar in all regions.
The people have to be distributed among the communities.
At the moment the situation is comparatively relaxed, reports Hartl.
Because there are now six large thermal halls, there are still 400 places available.
But everyone assumes the numbers will rise again in one to two months.
The district offices continue to rely on the communities to help them find accommodation for all refugees.
That often works well, says Hartl.
But sometimes not without pressure.
We are suing for compliance with existing law.
Josef Hauser, mayor of Dietramszell
In the Weilheim-Schongau district, the district office has threatened some communities in recent months that they will present refugees in front of the town hall if they do not provide accommodation.
It was similar in the neighboring district of Bad Tölz-Wolfratshausen.
The municipality of Greiling went to the Munich administrative court because of this - and got justice in the expedited procedure (we reported).
The verdict in the main proceedings is still pending.
But the court already argued that the allocations were an interference with the municipalities' right to self-government.
After this became known a week ago, Dietramszell, also in the Bad Tölz-Wolfratshausen district, has now filed an application for an interim injunction.
The lawsuit has been going on for some time, and now the municipality wants to ensure that there are no more allocations until the verdict is reached - like in Greiling.
“We are fulfilling our obligation to cooperate,” emphasizes Mayor Josef Hauser (FWG).
20 refugees have already been accommodated in Dietramszell.
The municipality has also approved a change of use for a former school camp.
The district office wants to accommodate up to 100 more people there.
“We are ready to accept people,” emphasizes Hauser.
But he won't just let them stand in front of the town hall.
“We are suing for compliance with existing law,” he emphasizes.
Solidarity will remain - even after the emergency decision.
Helmut Hartl, employee in the Weilheim-Schongau district office
In Hohenfurch in the Weilheim-Schongau district, the emergency decision caused a heated debate in the local council.
There, too, there was a possibility of compulsory assignment in the fall.
Some local politicians now questioned the planned asylum accommodation again; they argued that it had only been approved because of the threat of forced assignment.
Mayor Guntram Vogelsgesang (CSU) is trying to promote solidarity with other communities that have already taken in significantly more asylum seekers.
Hohenfurch does not plan to file a lawsuit, he says.
Because then the district office would probably rent property from private owners.
He would rather be involved in the plans.
Currently, forced assignment is no longer an issue, he reports.
This is the case in all 34 communities in the district, says Helmut Hartl.
He is in contact with all mayors.
“I’m proud that we’re pulling together,” he says.
And he is glad that there was never a threat of forced assignment.
“Solidarity will remain – even after the emergency decision,” he is sure.
That's why he continues to go to meetings - no matter how icy the headwind blows.