In view of the continuing influx of people seeking protection from the Ukraine, Hamburg will create at least another 2,000 places for refugees in public accommodation by the end of the year. This number results solely from the measures that have already been decided or are already being implemented to expand the accommodation capacity, said Martin Helfrich, spokesman for the social authority. However, this growth is “still not sufficient in view of the continuous number of new arrivals”.
The city is therefore working flat out to find additional space or areas for accommodation. Several dozen objects are currently being examined more closely. “In the course of the coming months, depending on the demand due to the access situation, several hundred more places will be created through densification, expansion of existing accommodation, construction of new accommodation locations as well as renting and, if necessary, conversion of existing commercial areas and real estate.”
In the meantime, the first of five emergency shelters in school sports halls is ready for occupancy. Around 150 camp beds, blankets and pillows were set up in the sports hall of the automotive engineering vocational school in Hamm. The other four halls would be held in reserve for the time being. “There we are prepared to set up beds within a few hours together with the aid organizations if necessary,” said Helfrich. The total capacity is 750 beds. It is not yet certain when the first ones will be occupied. “I assume that in the short term we will be in a situation where we will also have to use halls.”
However, the halls are “only a short-term solution in every respect,” he said. “Because they only give us breathing space for a short time. And they are only a short-term solution, because the accommodation of people in these halls should only be short-term at best, until we have better options to offer.” Accommodation for several months is not “what we imagine”.
One of these better options could be, for example, the building of the former Postbank headquarters in City Nord, the lease of which is being negotiated according to dpa information and which would offer a similar capacity to the hall of the former Fegro wholesale market in Harburg, in which around 750 people can be accommodated. Helfrich did not want to comment on specific negotiations. Just this much: “We are specifically looking for properties that can accommodate several hundred people.”
According to the information, more than 13,000 accommodation places in public institutions have already been created since the beginning of the Russian war of aggression in Ukraine. Of the estimated 25,000 people seeking protection in the city, around 15,500 are dependent on public accommodation. Several hundred have also found shelter in the Winter Emergency Program facilities for the homeless. However, these beds would be needed again for their actual purpose from October, said Helfrich.
1000 beds are already available in the accommodation built from containers in the Braun car park at the Volksparkstadion, said Helfrich. It is already the largest in the city. Another 300 places are to be added there. Tents like the ones erected on Schnackenburgsallee at the beginning of the war as a makeshift solution shouldn’t be there again, at least for the time being, said Helfrich. “This is a form of accommodation that we would like to avoid as far as possible.”
Recently, the city had encountered resistance when looking for locations, for example in Wandsbek. The main committee of the Wandsbek district assembly discussed planned accommodation in Farmsen and Duvenstedt this week, including on the festival grounds there. “Without new accommodation, all places will be occupied by September at the latest,” says district chief Thomas Ritzenhoff. That applies to all of Hamburg. However, many of the residents present did not want a container village in their central square. The SPD and the Greens finally voted for the location.