2024-03-29 02:22:28
At “Markus Lanz”, local politicians spoke about the asylum situation in their districts – and painted a clear picture of overload.
The federal government’s decisions on asylum policy hit the local level particularly hard – there was no doubt about that with “Markus Lanz” on Wednesday evening. Only the Green district mayor of Berlin-Pankow, Cordelia Koch, noticeably held back from criticizing the status quo.
The guests:
- Cordelia Koch, district mayor of Berlin-Pankow (Greens)
- Andreas Bausewein, Mayor of Erfurt (SPD)
- Ursula Baum, Mayor of Kaarst (FDP)
- Christian Engelhardt, District Administrator of the Bergstrasse District (CDU)
“We are almost constantly in crisis mode,” explained CDU district administrator Christian Engelhardt at the beginning of the discussion. Regardless of whether it is the past Corona crisis or the asylum crisis that is still present, a large part of the responsibility and organization lies with the implementation at the district level.
Many employees are so overwhelmed and overworked that many of them are even crying because of the drastic situation. “The permanent overload, the permanent crisis and the permanent lack of creative freedom are demotivating,” said Engelhardt.
Koch: “We need more workers”
This evening, Berliner Cordelia Koch was particularly cautious about criticizing asylum policy. “We need more workers,” she said at the beginning of the program. Engelhardt interrupted her and raised the objection that a distinction must be made between the integration of immigrants into the labor market and humanitarian asylum. Koch emphasized that people need work for successful integration. “The federal government’s approach of getting people into work quickly is the right one,” said Koch.
The mayor of Erfurt, Andreas Bausewein, also said that asylum is currently the dominant issue. He saw the situation similarly to Engelhardt. They had taken in a lot of people over many years, but had reached a point where it no longer worked that way.
The apartments are actually all occupied. Bausewein explained the urgency of the problem using a comparison. At the beginning of his term as mayor in 2006, the proportion of foreigners in Erfurt was less than three percent, but it has now risen to over 13 percent. The immigration office has grown from seven to over 52 employees, but at least 92 employees are needed. However, no suitable staff can be found.
Baum: “People want to help”
The mayor of Kaarst, Ursula Baum, explained how problematic it is to find additional housing for asylum seekers. Although construction continues, there is a lack of acceptance among the population. “People want to help,” she said – but if you can no longer get a place to live, it becomes problematic. “We have no more space, no more land to build on.”
Koch, however, saw the problem of the lack of apartments as lying somewhere else: “Of course there is a lack of apartments, but the problem is not with the refugees.” Rather, the situation comes about because people increasingly want to live in cities.
District Administrator: Never use gyms again
Engelhardt, however, spoke of a “practical upper limit”. “We have to be honest. We can only accept as many people in our country as we can integrate with the existing resources of skilled workers, teachers, kindergartens and structures,” emphasized the politician.
Bausewein remembered what it was like to provide gyms for asylum seekers because it had to happen quickly. “It took a year and a half before we could use it for sport again.” He would never do that again because it caused enormous social unrest. “You can explain that for three or four months, but not for a year and a half. Then school sports are canceled, then club sports are canceled.” Today the situation is such that Erfurt cannot accommodate any more people due to space constraints.
Bausewein: “We have a field hamster problem”
That evening, Bausewein gave an obscure example of how difficult local politics often have it with guidelines. “We have a field hamster problem. We want to build a school center, but there are around 40 field hamsters there. Now there is a proposal on how to relocate these field hamsters, buy neighboring fields and manage them in a field hamster-friendly manner for the next 30 years. That would cost ten million euros. We need school places. When I give examples like that, people no longer understand.”
There is definitely frustration among the population, explained Baum. “Because they can’t find a place to live, because they can’t get a place at school, because they can’t get a place in a kindergarten, because they see what social benefits are paid, because they see that people are doing undeclared work, because they see that no people are being deported. You see also the good sides, but they also see the negative.” She mentioned that her daughters in Düsseldorf could no longer walk through the old town because they had reported that girls were being bullied and harassed there. She said that on certain issues a tougher approach was necessary.