Municipal sports association criticizes gym use for refugees
The Stadtsportbund Rostock has criticized the city administration's decision to temporarily use a second sports hall as emergency accommodation for refugees. "It is regrettable and incomprehensible that the city, starting with the 2015/2016 refugee phase until today, has still not managed to develop other accommodation suitable for residential purposes to a sufficient extent and make it available to those seeking refuge," it said in a letter to Rostock's Lord Mayor Eva-Maria Kröger (Left Party). Sports halls are not a suitable solution for accommodating people.
The social welfare authorities announced on Thursday that the sports hall in Alte Warnemünder Chaussee in the district of Groß Klein will be set up as emergency accommodation from next week in order to be able to fulfill the legal obligation to provide accommodation. In a reply to the sports association, Kröger emphasized that the city administration had worked extremely hard in recent months to create new accommodation.
"I firmly reject underlying accusations that the administration is not doing its best. The repeated criticism that gymnasiums are not suitable unfortunately does not create other accommodation." The existing accommodation was completely full, so that a short-term solution had to be found. Both letters are dated Friday and were forwarded by a member of parliament on Saturday.
A gymnasium in the Rostock district of Dierkow has already been used as refugee accommodation for several months. According to the social authorities, around 25 to 35 refugees are currently coming to Rostock every week. In the coming months, the city administration says it wants to create around 850 places in additional accommodation facilities.
Around 250 places are currently being created in a new shared accommodation facility in Osthafen. According to the figures, 1227 refugees had been placed in Rostock this year by the end of September. In 2021 there were a total of 180 and in 2022 a total of 415 refugees.
The Stadtsportbund Rostock's concerns about using sports halls for refugee accommodation extend beyond the current situation in Alte Warnemünder Chaussee, as they point out the city's inability to provide sufficient residential accommodation since the 2015/2016 refugee phase. Municipalities across Germany have faced challenges in accommodating the increasing number of migrants, highlighting the need for long-term solutions.
Source: www.dpa.com
