Last week, representatives of the Green Party and the Left Party in the Berlin Parliament initiated a discussion on the conditions for housing Ukrainian refugees in the German capital. One of the largest centers for receiving migrants is the building of the former airport “Tegel”. But the deputies consider the conditions in the shelter unacceptable. Some members of the local parliament even call them “terrible and humiliating”.
The fact is that initially the territory of the airport was planned to be used only as a registration center, but later it became a place of residence for many refugees. Currently, about 4,000 migrants from Ukraine and other countries permanently live there. It is the largest center for accommodation of asylum seekers in Germany.
Members of the Berlin senate have several ideas for improving the stay of refugees.
“It must be admitted that Tegel is currently not the registration center it was at first, but a place where people live for months. At least minimum conditions should be created there,” he says Bettina Jarash, head of the “Greens” faction in the capital’s land parliament.
Mrs. Jarash called to open the shelter’s doors for various public initiatives.
“It cannot be the case that Berlin has a whole class of people who do not live, but simply receive shelter. We have to create prospects for these people,” says the head of the Left faction, Anne Helm.
Ukrainian activists also joined the discussion. A group of women came to the meeting holding placards with the words: “Would you like your child to live in Tegel?”.
Currently, about 800 minors live on the territory of the former airport. Some of them do not even have the opportunity to go to school.
In March, the Berlin Senate voted to house refugees in Tegel until the end of 2025. In particular, it is planned to increase the number of beds in the shelter to 7,000.
In a makeshift migrant reception center, the “rooms” are often just fabric partitions. Thousands of people simultaneously use common places of stay – bathrooms, etc. It was to reorganize the shelter and improve the conditions of stay there that the members of the opposition factions organized the relevant discussion.
