Düsseldorf (dpa/lnw) – A new cross-departmental refugee and integration crisis team is intended to speed up the accommodation, care and integration of those seeking protection in North Rhine-Westphalia. Prime Minister Hendrik Wüst (CDU) said on Wednesday in Düsseldorf that his cabinet had decided to set up such a staff because the major challenges could only be mastered in close coordination between all government departments and the municipalities involved.
“The current challenges go beyond questions of accommodation and care,” added Minister for Flight and Integration Josefine Paul (Greens). Prerequisites for successful integration include care, education and access to the labor market.
According to the State Chancellery, more than a quarter of a million people have come to NRW from Ukraine since the start of the Russian war of aggression on February 24, 2022. In addition, in the course of the second half of 2022, the number of asylum seekers from third countries entering NRW rose sharply and remained at a consistently high level. In the whole of 2022, almost 35,000 more asylum seekers came to initial reception facilities in the state and stayed in NRW, the State Chancellery reported. An increasing number of refugees from many parts of the world is also expected in the current year. “Solidarity and lived humanity are a matter of course for us,” emphasized Wüst. The state government supports the municipalities and expands its own capacities. The number of places in the country’s reception facilities has now doubled to almost 30,000. Overall, the accommodation and integration of refugees was financed with 3.5 billion euros from the state budget last year.
