ZDF.reportage - Refugee aid in Germany at the limit
Refugee numbers are already as high as they were in 2015. Since the beginning of 2022, almost one million Ukrainians have fled to Germany to escape the war in their country. But many cities lack accommodation.
Significantly more people are also coming to Germany again from other countries. Many cities are sounding the alarm. They lack accommodation and capacity. Many communities are at their limits + feel left alone by the federal government.
At the arrival center of the state of Baden-Württemberg in Heidelberg, newly arrived refugees go through the first stages of their asylum procedure: from registration + identity checks to hearings by the Federal Office for Migration and Refugees. Head Markus Rothfuß tries to keep an overview here. The arrival center is designed for about 2600 residents and is already overcrowded with about 3000 in the fall. The further distribution to the municipalities no longer functions smoothly, as accommodations are lacking in some places.
In Greiz in eastern Thuringia, Martina Schweinsburg has already had to crack down. The high refugee numbers left the district administrator no other choice. She imposed a refugee admission freeze. "We simply can't take any more!" So far this year, the county has taken in more refugees than ever before. In 2016, the year the refugee crisis peaked, just under 1000 asylum seekers came to Greiz. Now there are already more than 1,600. The district administrator is working around the clock to find solutions, but laments the lack of support from the state government.
"We have learned nothing from 2015!" says Matthias Schimpf, an alderman in the Bergstrasse district in Hesse. He knows what it means when hundreds of refugees need warm accommodation. He was already responsible for the organization in 2015. Hundreds more are to be assigned to the district. A former hospital in Lindenfels is to help. Actually, it is only designed for 200 residents. Currently, more than 300 are housed there.
In Bautzen, district councillor Jörg Szewczyk has completely different worries. Since 2015, there have been repeated acts of violence against asylum seekers. Most recently, there was a fire at the end of October 2022 in a former hotel on the Bautzen reservoir, which was intended as refugee accommodation. Jörg Szewczyk had the Spreehotel restored. Around 200 refugees were recently relocated there from a demolished prefabricated building, because there is hardly any accommodation available in the entire district.
More refugees often also means more demand at the food banks. Hartz IV recipients, homeless people, refugees: the chairman of Krefeld's Tafel, Hansgeorg Rehbein, has seen an enormous rush of customers in 2022. "More and more people are joining, so of course there is social envy when everyone is hungry."
Video in the ZDF media library available until 20.01.2028
Broadcasting on 21st of January 2023 at 06.00pm on ZDF
Music: POPVIRUS Library