Asylum - Mayor: 500 Asylseekers are too many for Dabel
The 1,370-inhabitant community of Dabel is opposing plans by Ludwigslust-Parchim District to house 500 refugees in a former barracks on the outskirts of the town. The mayor, Jörg Neumann, stated at a press conference in Schwerin that the community had filed an objection to the building permit. The objection is against the fact that the district is replacing the community's consent for the project. Dabel had previously denied consent, according to the mayor.
The barracks area is an industrial zone
The community cannot accommodate and integrate 500 people with its infrastructure, Neumann said. "We would suddenly have a third more inhabitants." The lives of the community would be significantly disrupted, the people feared. Moreover, the barracks area is today an industrial zone, so no one can live there.
The community is indeed willing to accept refugees, Neumann emphasized. This was demonstrated during the refugee wave from Syria in 2015. About 60 people found shelter in Dabel at the time. Two still work for craftsmen in the town today. "They are there and belong."
Mayor: Small accommodation no problem
Neumann stressed that the protest in Dabel is not against refugees, "but against the mechanism that there is simply an allocation and that 500 people are to be quartered there." The Ludwigslust-Parchim District plans to put the accommodation into operation at the beginning of next year, according to the mayor's words.
Dabel is not the first case where there is protest when large refugee accommodations are planned in small towns. In Upahl (Landkreis Nordwestmecklenburg), the capacity of planned 400 accommodations was reduced to 250 places. Criticism has arisen there again because it was initially promised that the container village would only be used for one year. The accommodation, which was put into operation in October 2023, is now planned to remain in operation until summer 2025.
The Ludwigslust-Parchim District is located in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, where the controversy over housing 500 asylum-seekers in a former barracks in Dabel has arisen. Despite their objection to the building permit, Dabel had initially consented to hosting some refugees during the Syrian refugee crisis in 2015, accommodating around 60 people who still reside and contribute to the local community. The mayor, Jörg Neumann, clarified that the community's concern is not against refugees but rather against the forced allocation of the large refugee accommodation, which would significantly disrupt the lives of the current residents and pose challenges to the city's infrastructure, as the barracks area is currently an industrial zone.
