Thuringian cities call on state government to act

The largest cities in Thuringia have reached the limits of their capacity to take in asylum seekers and Ukrainian citizens. As requests for help from the state government have so far not had the urgently needed success and the municipalities have felt let down by the state government for years, the cities of Erfurt, Jena, Weimar, Gera, Eisenach and Suhl are now joining forces to demand greater support from the state.

One of the main problems: a lack of accommodation for refugees. Hardly any free apartments on the market, shared accommodation full, gymnasiums occupied - the capacities of many cities are exhausted. The cities urgently need binding and written funding commitments from the state in order to acquire sufficient decent housing. Another demand: . The state government must finally provide cities and municipalities with sufficient funding so that they can fulfill their tasks in the interests of the refugees. This also includes increasing the refugee allowances, which have not been adjusted for years, to the level of comparable federal states. The cities also agree that the state must ensure fairer distribution mechanisms and press ahead with the reintroduction of the domicile requirement that existed in Thuringia until 2009.

Erfurt's Lord Mayor Andreas Bausewein: "In this context, I cannot understand why we apply double standards to refugees. The unequal treatment of refugees from Ukraine and refugees of other origins must be abolished.

Erfurt demands binding, written commitments

"For years, cities have mostly fulfilled their obligations without complaint and it is undeniably a duty of all of us to help those fleeing war and destruction. But we have now reached a point where we can't go on like this. The capacities of the state capital are exhausted. The city will not provide any more gyms. For me, this means that it is now up to the Free State to provide the cities with the necessary resources to continue to meet their obligations. We can and will no longer be put off with verbal promises, but demand binding written commitments from the state government," says Erfurt's Lord Mayor Andreas Bausewein.

At the end of 2010, there were still 436 registered asylum seekers in the state capital. In the years 2015 to 2017, the number moved from 1,806 to 886 to 1,036. This number rose above the 1,200 mark again from 2021. Since February 24 of this year, there have also been 3,041 (as of December 8, 2012) people with Ukrainian citizenship.

Eisenach criticizes the gap between cities and rural areas

Eisenach's mayor Katja Wolf says: "It is extremely important that the financial support goes to where the people live. The reality is that here in Eisenach, the town pays for the majority of integration services from its own funds or relies on voluntary work. This is not a permanent situation. In addition, the state urgently needs to ensure that those arriving in the Free State are better distributed. The gap between the cities and rural areas is still too wide."

There are currently more than 3,000 refugees living in the Wartburg district (WAK), including more than 1,600 from Ukraine. There are also around 700 asylum seekers (not from Ukraine).

The citizens' office currently registers 4933 foreigners in the city of Eisenach (as of 15.11.2022). This includes 560 Ukrainians who are registered with the city. In comparison: before the outbreak of the war, there were 38. This means that around 530 war refugees have arrived since March. This corresponds to a third of all Ukrainian refugees currently residing in the Wartburg district.

Gera is in favor of reintroducing the domicile requirement

"The state government has a responsibility to follow the principle of connectivity, i.e. to finance the tasks that it transfers to our cities and municipalities. Concrete relief must be defined here beyond December 31, 2022. Furthermore, there is still an unequal distribution in Thuringia, which we also criticized at an early stage - also without any significant support from the state. The reintroduction of the domicile requirement would be a good first step towards counteracting this overburdening of individual municipalities. It must be understood that we will only master the situation together in the long term if the state government pulls together with the cities and municipalities," says Gera's Mayor Julian Vonarb.

Since 2010, the number of registered asylum seekers in Gera has increased massively up to the deadline of November 30, 2022. While there were 154 asylum seekers in 2010, 756 have been registered so far this year. In addition, there are 1990 Ukrainian citizens who have arrived in Gera since February.

Jena calls for an immediate response from the state government

"The Free State of Thuringia's procedure for financing the expenses for Ukrainian war refugees leads to a disproportionate burden on municipal budgets, while other federal states - as required - offer adequate lump sums.The independent cities in Thuringia can no longer tolerate the role of deficiency guarantor for the Free State and expect the state government to change course immediately," says Jena's Lord Mayor Thomas Nitzsche.

There are currently 580 foreigners living in existing accommodation and 90 in containers in Jena. There are currently 516 people living in accommodation set up since February 2022, 90 of them in containers and 90 in a gymnasium. There are also 395 people living in 100 rented apartments. There is also accommodation in private apartments. Since February 2022, there have been 1,839 registered persons from Ukraine in Jena: (as of 30.11.2022), of which 1,293 are currently registered (as of 2.12.2022) Overall, the number of people with a refugee background in Jena has increased almost tenfold in the past eight years.

Weimar rejects accommodation in sports halls

"The available living space in Weimar is exhausted. Our housing associations, privately provided apartments and other accommodation options are full. As a city, we will not consider mass accommodation in sports halls, especially in the interests of the refugees. Especially as such accommodation can only be of short duration. After a few days, the question of appropriate and permanent accommodation would arise again. What we need now is constructive cooperation with the state government, written funding commitments and time to create additional capacity, but also visible efforts by the state to provide and operate significantly more of its own properties for housing refugees," says Weimar's Lord Mayor Peter Kleine.

The number of refugees registered in Weimar has more than quadrupled this year compared to 2011. The city administration is currently aware of 7286 foreigners in Weimar, 1846 of whom are currently undergoing asylum proceedings.

Suhl also shoulders the state's initial reception center

Suhl's mayor André Knapp complains that the initial reception facility for refugees in his city is overcrowded: "Arrivals at the initial reception facility are completely diffuse. Due to overcrowding, there are long waiting times for people and the potential for conflict is increasing. I don't understand why the state doesn't increase its staff here to relieve the existing staff, who are doing a superhuman job."

The proportion of foreigners in Suhl's population rose by 3.4 percent in 2022 and, as of September 30, 2022, now stands at 12.6 percent, making it the highest in the whole of Thuringia. At the end of 2021, it was still 9.2 percent. The figures also include people who were housed in the state's initial reception center on the respective reporting date. According to the mayor, there is still vacant living space in the city. However, upgrading this requires time and, above all, financial commitments from the state.