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Refugees in emergency accommodation for some time: Greens in favor of new building

A hall in Hermsdorf is being used by the state as makeshift accommodation for refugees. However, some of the residents have been there for weeks. The state has been looking for new accommodation for a long time. Now Green Party parliamentary group leader Astrid Rothe-Beinlich is proposing a new...

The refugee accommodation in Hermsdorf (Thuringia) is located in an industrial estate. Photo.aussiedlerbote.de
The refugee accommodation in Hermsdorf (Thuringia) is located in an industrial estate. Photo.aussiedlerbote.de

Migration - Refugees in emergency accommodation for some time: Greens in favor of new building

Thuringia's Green Party leader Astrid Rothe-Beinlich has spoken out in favor of building a new refugee shelter in order to create more places in the state. "From our point of view, the best thing would be to build a sensible, good new initial reception facility," Rothe-Beinlich told the German Press Agency. Saxony has done this. However, the people would still have to be accommodated until it was completed.

The 49-year-old, who is also the migration policy spokesperson for her parliamentary group, criticized the accommodation in Hermsdorf. "Honestly, this hall in Hermsdorf has never really worked," said Rothe-Beinlich. With regard to plans to set up refugee accommodation in a former women's clinic in Gera, Rothe-Beinlich said that she would be happy with any other solution, "because then at least you have the people out of this hall".

The President of the Thuringian State Administration Office, Frank Roßner, wants to achieve a lower utilization of the refugee accommodation in Hermsdorf as quickly as possible. He is in agreement with the Ministry of the Interior "that we shut down Hermsdorf as quickly as possible", said Roßner.

In emergency accommodation for weeks

"Hermsdorf is an emergency shelter and we have always assumed that people would only stay there for three to four days," said Roßner. However, some of the residents have been staying there since October. One of the reasons for this is cases of scabies in the emergency accommodation. Scabies is a skin disease caused by scabies mites. It manifests itself as an inflammation of the skin with severe itching. According to Roßner, there has also been a case of tuberculosis, which still needs to be clarified.

The head of the state administration office said that full occupancy of the state-owned accommodation was difficult. "We always say that the facilities should be a maximum of 80 percent full, preferably only 70 percent." If they are fully occupied, there is a lack of flexibility in the distribution of people. He had already asked in April 2022 for another accommodation facility to be prepared in Gera.

Long-term planning required

Refugees are to be housed in the former Wismut hospital in Gera next year. The new accommodation should then also relieve the overcrowded initial reception facility in Suhl. The plan is to accommodate around 200 refugees in the former women's clinic in Gera. Roßner assumes that his authority will also be responsible for the new domicile. In his opinion, the 200 places will help. However, it is crucial that the municipalities are put in a position to take in more refugees.

Roßner spoke out in favor of long-term planning in the area of migration. "I believe that we need long-term planning in the municipalities in the area of asylum in the same way as we do for school network planning or road construction." A forecast is needed and longer-term planning derived from this. "As I see it, the issue of migration is here to stay."

It is no good just acting in emergency mode. It is not a question of achieving a precision landing with the planning. "But we as a society must agree on a forecast - for the next three or five years."

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Source: www.stern.de

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