Situation in the Würzburg district “extremely dramatic”
In the Würzburg district, the situation is now “extremely dramatic,” says Fabian Hollmann, head of labor and social affairs in the district office. There is generally hardly any affordable living space in the Würzburg area – which is why people who are allowed to stay in Germany cannot move out of the accommodation. Of these people, 665 are currently living in district accommodation (as of November 15, 2023). At the same time, the anchor facility in Geldersheim assigns over 50 refugees per week to the Würzburg district.
The district is desperately looking for accommodation and has asked the population and mayors to report properties. For emergency accommodation, the district needs large spaces, such as warehouses, where people can temporarily live in separate areas or rooms. Sanitary facilities or space for sanitary containers are important here. The district emphasizes that such properties are looked after, including with security on site.
The district is also looking for buildings for decentralized accommodation, i.e. residential buildings, former restaurants with space for at least ten people. With this variant, the operator receives 20 euros per person per day. The rooms must be furnished.
The emergency shelter in Sommerhausen started operations this week (50 places), followed next week by the one in Gaukönigshofen (80 places). The Würzburg district will then operate a total of seven emergency shelters. Because winter is approaching, tents are not planned as accommodation. If no further accommodation can be found in a timely manner, the district will have to resort to sports halls from the week of December 4th.
The city of Würzburg is currently setting up new emergency accommodation
In the city of Würzburg the situation is also “increasingly tense,” said press spokesman Christian Weiß to BR24. The city is currently setting up a larger refugee accommodation in the Frauenland district, which is scheduled to go into operation at the beginning of next year. It is not yet clear how many people there will be room for.
The city of Würzburg is also continuing to look for apartments and houses that it can use for refugees. Gyms are not intended as accommodation in the city of Würzburg. The care situation is particularly tense, says Christian Weiß. There is a lack of staff.
Haßberge district: “Situation is getting worse”
The situation in the Haßberge district is also critical. In the current week and in the next two weeks, the district will take in around 130 refugees, who will be distributed via the anchor center in Geldersheim. “These people will be accommodated in regular accommodation in the district’s decentralized accommodation,” says the district office in Haßfurt.
Starting the week of December 4th, the county must use at least one of the emergency shelters. These are a former furniture store in Haßfurt and a sports hall in Ebern. At the same time, the district office is constantly renting new houses and making them ready for occupancy. “The accommodation situation will worsen if the influx does not decrease,” it concludes.
There are currently around 1,500 refugees in the Rhön-Grabfeld district
At the beginning of the week, the Rhön-Grabfeld district sounded the alarm. District Administrator Thomas Habermann (CSU) invited people to a press conference and reported on the “increasingly dramatic situation”. The people mainly come from Ukraine and Turkey because the Lower Franconia district is currently responsible for these two countries of origin throughout Bavaria. A total of 1,500 people are currently accommodated in the Rhön-Grabfeld district.
On average, the Rhön-Grabfeld district is expecting 25 additional refugees per week in the near future. The biggest problem is accommodating people, according to the district administrator. The emergency shelter in Bad Neustadt has already reopened. People will also be accommodated in the former district hospital and in a hotel. As things stand, Habermann does not want to use gymnasiums for accommodation.
The Schweinfurt district is looking for buildings for ten to 30 people
The Schweinfurt district has continuously increased the number of decentralized accommodations in recent months – and is currently looking for additional properties. Specifically, the district is looking for buildings that can accommodate ten to 30 people and that the district can rent. Not only larger apartments or residential buildings come into question, but also company buildings, former hotels or guesthouses. In this way, the district office wants to prevent emergency accommodation such as gyms from having to be used.
Bad Kissingen district: Assignments are a “challenge”
The Bad Kissingen district has had to accept at least 25 new refugees per week since Monday. “The allocations are a huge challenge for us,” said District Administrator Thomas Bold (CSU). There are currently ten shared accommodations and 13 decentralized accommodations available for refugees in the district. “This capacity is far from sufficient if we have to accommodate 25 more people in the district every week from now on,” Bold continued.
The Bad Kissingen district also has the goal of not accommodating people in gyms, containers or tents. But the district urgently needs suitable accommodation. The district is currently upgrading a former service building in Hausen. According to the district office, it will be used as emergency accommodation for refugees by mid-December at the latest. The district asks the population to report properties. Properties that offer space for around ten to 30 people and can be used as decentralized accommodation are ideal. In addition to residential buildings, these can also be company buildings, hotels or guesthouses.
Criticism of the traffic light policy: municipalities are overwhelmed by the situation
District Administrator Thomas Bold scheduled a short-term meeting with the mayors in the district on Thursday and asked them to report accommodations. “Some municipalities have been enormously committed to refugees since the beginning of the Ukraine crisis. There, citizens have been offering private housing. It is clear to me that some mayors are now standing there with a fearful look and saying: ‘How can we do that? “It’s all the more important that all municipalities really get involved; no one can close their minds to this issue and stay out of it. Accommodating the refugees is a joint task that we can only manage if we show solidarity,” said Bold.
The Bad Kissingen district administrator also criticized the federal government’s policy on the train: “The government takes in the refugees, then they are distributed among the districts – and in the end we have to see how we manage it all.” The municipalities would also reach their limits when it comes to integrating people.
Kitzingen district: Sports halls not excluded
The Kitzingen district wants to avoid the occupancy of sports halls or tents for as long as possible. The district currently has a former factory hall in Mainbernheim available as emergency accommodation. But there is not enough space there in the long term, according to the district office when asked by BR24. Further emergency accommodation is planned. The district cannot rule out that it will have to switch to sports halls – due to a lack of alternatives.
The Kitzingen district is therefore urgently looking for properties that can be developed as emergency accommodation – for example empty factory or office buildings, but also residential buildings in which people can be accommodated decentrally. Empty residential buildings, hotels, guesthouses or retirement homes are suitable for this. Individual apartments are more suitable for already recognized refugees who can look for an apartment themselves.
There are currently 1,200 refugees in the Aschaffenburg district
“The situation here is still extremely tense,” says the Aschaffenburg district. Around 1,200 people are currently being accommodated there by the state. The capacities in the existing accommodation would be “expanded to the limit”.
The Aschaffenburg district is also urgently looking for additional properties in which refugees can accommodate: larger apartments or houses that can accommodate at least ten people, but also company buildings, industrial buildings, supermarkets, former guesthouses, hotels or supermarkets. Properties with a size of at least 1,500 square meters “that are suitable for the creation of appropriate accommodation options” can also be considered, according to the district office. Halls and container settlements could be set up there. Tents are not excluded either.
Sports and cultural halls should remain untouched in order to enable school and club sports as well as cultural events in the future, it goes on to say. The district office also wants to prevent larger facilities with over 100 people in one place.
In the city of Aschaffenburg the situation is becoming “more difficult, but the number of refugees is still manageable,” according to a request from BR24 from the town hall. The city is therefore currently not planning to use gyms as living spaces for refugees.
Miltenberg district is reactivating emergency shelters and wants to set up tents
The Miltenberg district has needed at least 40 new places for refugees every week since the beginning of November. District Administrator Jens Marco Scherf (The Greens) said this at the request of BR24. Because there are not enough new accommodations, the district is now reactivating an emergency accommodation in the Röllfeld old school in Klingenberg. The district is also preparing an emergency shelter in an empty commercial property in Miltenberg-West – and is trying to find suitable property for a thermal tent. “The call to report suitable properties for decentralized accommodation to the Miltenberg district has been current since August 2022 and is repeated regularly,” concluded Scherf.
Scherf had already written an open letter to Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) in March and pointed out the difficult situation in the municipalities. It was already said that the municipalities were “hopefully overwhelmed” when it came to accommodating the refugees.
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