Schwerin/Upahl (dpa/mv) – In the conflict over container accommodation for 400 refugees in the village of Upahl (Northwest Mecklenburg), with a population of 500, Prime Minister Manuela Schwesig (SPD) has met with fierce criticism – including from within her own ranks. When she recommended in an interview with Deutschlandfunk that the accommodation in Upahl be as small as possible, the district parliamentary groups in Northwest Mecklenburg, with the exception of the AfD, responded with a joint statement. In it they call for more active support instead of advice via radio interview. A spokesman for Schwesig said in the “Schweriner Volkszeitung” (Saturday edition) that the criticism was incomprehensible. Several days ago, the Prime Minister offered the state’s support in a telephone call to District Administrator Tino Schomann (CDU).
The declaration of the district parliamentary groups, which was also signed by the chairman of the SPD parliamentary group, Christian Ahlbeck, says: “We all didn’t take the decision to approve funds for the establishment of the Upahl site lightly, we all would have it a longer planning time and a significantly better integration of the people in Upahl”. “However, we have to state that the situation on the housing market is such that, among other things, the accommodation of around 2,600 refugees from the Ukraine in the Northwest Mecklenburg district has led to the fact that we currently hardly have any free living space, which we are now coming to us people can offer.” Refugees are currently being accommodated in two sports halls in Wismar, which is not acceptable in the long term.
It is also said that the decision for the Upahl location was made by the district council under the pressure of the current allocations from the state of MV. “We would like the Prime Minister to give less advice via radio interview and more active support in this acute crisis situation.” The City and Municipality Day of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania has been demanding for a long time that the state should increase its initial reception places by 3,000 to 4,700, as was the case during the wave of refugees from Syria in 2015. This should give the municipalities time to better prepare accommodation and integration. The country has so far refused to increase its capacities.
