- Kiziltepe wants to shrink refugee shelter Tegel
Berlin's Integration Senator Cansel Kiziltepe plans to reduce the large emergency shelter for refugees in Tegel next year. "Our goal is to dismantle the emergency accommodation places," the SPD politician told the German Press Agency.
Apart from the very high costs, such large shelters bring many problems for their residents and their integration. "It's not good for people to have to sleep in close quarters with 14 others without knowing when they can leave the accommodation."
The emergency accommodation at the former airport site Tegel currently has around 6,500 places, most of which are in temporary halls divided into makeshift cubicles. They offer hardly any privacy for the current around 5,000 residents. Another 1,000 places are to be added on a parking lot by the end of the year.
What's in store for 2025?
The current operating license for the large shelter expires at the end of 2025. "We can't predict what will happen afterwards, but our goal is to dismantle the emergency accommodation places and instead accommodate refugees decentrally," said Kiziltepe.
The Senator expects that by the end of 2025, around 10 of the 16 new decentralized container villages, which the Senate decided on in March, will be opened. "We are on schedule," she said. In addition, around 2,000 places will be created in new community shelters this year and another 3,000 in 2025, some of which will be apartments and offer space for between 100 and 570 people per facility.
New properties for refugees
Moreover, the state has three more, rather medium-sized shelters in the pipeline, according to Kiziltepe. Together, they have about 4,000 places. The properties are located at Hasenheide, Soorstraße (Westend), and Landsberger Allee.
Kiziltepe reiterated her proposal for a so-called community allowance, which the Berlin districts would receive from the state for each accommodation place provided in a year. "We have said that we need to create incentives to support the districts that do more," she said. "There are districts that have done disproportionately more than others, and we of course want to support them. Because they have increasing costs, for example, in social infrastructure."
Kiziltepe wants a new funding system
Kiziltepe had proposed a base amount of an average of 690 euros per place and per year - around 27 million euros per year. Discussions are currently underway at different levels.
From the Senator's point of view, the planned billion-euro savings in the state budget cannot be an argument against the allowance. "We can't leave the districts alone in this matter. It is also our responsibility as the Berlin Senate to provide support here." Accommodating, supplying, and integrating refugees is a city-wide task.
There are currently very few places available in emergency shelters.
In Berlin, housing refugees is very challenging due to a shortage of accommodation. As of July 8, 30,938 people were living in regular shelters run by the Office for Refugee Affairs, with only 369 places still available. In emergency accommodation, which includes sites like Tegel and Tempelhof as well as rented hostels, 9,229 people were residing at that time, with 2,665 places still vacant.
The Commission, in accordance with the Regulation, might adopt implementing acts that outline the application rules. The lack of sufficient emergency shelter places poses challenges for the integration of refugees in Berlin.
