Erfurt (dpa/th) – From Monday, all war refugees from Ukraine arriving in Thuringia are to be accommodated in the new emergency shelter in Hermsdorf (Saale-Holzland district). The service providers are on site and ready for action, the state administration office announced on Wednesday on request. How many people will be accommodated in the branch office of the Suhl initial reception facility in Hermsdorf on Monday depends on the number of refugees arriving. In the past month, an average of seven war refugees from the Ukraine have come to Thuringia every day.
The Hermsdorf emergency accommodation with space for up to 700 people is a hall in which folding beds are set up, which are separated from each other by site fences and tarpaulins. Refugees should be housed here for a maximum of three days and then distributed to the municipalities.
The accommodation in Hermsdorf is intended to relieve the initial reception center in Suhl, which had reached its capacity limit in the past few weeks. In the facility in Suhl, which offers space for around 1,400 people, there were 1,179 refugees on Wednesday morning. The large number of people in a small space had led to conflicts in recent weeks. In order to cushion the great need for accommodation in Thuringia, the reception facility in Eisenberg, which was actually intended for local Afghan workers, was already being used. Municipalities also complained about problems finding accommodation for refugees.
The state will initially operate the facility in Hermsdorf. Several tenders for an external operator were unsuccessful. The state of Thuringia wants to create capacities for 14,000 to 16,000 refugees in the current year. Forecasts assume that 8,000 to 10,000 refugees from Ukraine and up to 6,000 asylum seekers from other countries will come to Thuringia.
