Düsseldorf (dpa / lnw) – Before the refugee summit in Berlin, North Rhine-Westphalia insists on short-term further support from the federal government in the accommodation and care of refugees. “Despite the unbroken commitment on site, the municipalities are increasingly reaching their limits,” said NRW Refugee and Integration Minister Josefine Paul (Greens) on Wednesday in Düsseldorf. The funds already promised by the federal government would have to be paid out quickly. Overall, refugee financing urgently needs to be adjusted. “We have to move away from individual negotiations about one-off payments by the federal government towards permanent and structural financing,” said Paul. The federal government must increase its financial contribution substantially.
Federal Finance Minister Christian Lindner (FDP) and the Federal Ministry of the Interior had already dampened the expectations of the federal states and municipalities for higher federal subsidies for refugee costs. The refugee summit was scheduled for Thursday after high-ranking state and local officials repeatedly raised the alarm about the high number of refugees. The issues of limiting migration and returning rejected asylum seekers should also be a topic at the meeting.
Specifically, NRW Minister Paul called for “significantly more efforts” by the federal government to provide suitable properties for refugees. Of the 39 apartments, houses, former barracks or open spaces mentioned, 36 properties cannot be used at all for quick accommodation. Their structural condition is too bad, or the buildings would have to be renovated in the long term and at great expense. In the case of pure open spaces, time-consuming and costly electricity, water and sewage pipes as well as heating systems would have to be installed.
In letters to Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD), Federal Interior Minister Nancy Faeser (SPD) and NRW Prime Minister Hendrik Wüst (CDU), the NRW Association of Towns and Municipalities called for the refugees to be distributed evenly across the states and municipalities. The federal and state governments of North Rhine-Westphalia would have to support cities and municipalities more than before in accommodating the refugees. The state must increase the number of places in the state institutions by 40,000 in the short term. According to Paul, the country has increased initial reception capacities from 15,000 places to almost 31,000 – another 9,000 places are being examined.
Around 225,000 people from the Ukraine have now come to NRW alone. In addition, many refugees come from Syria, Iraq, Turkey or Iran.
