The Berlin State Office for Refugee Affairs (LAF) intends to convert a sprawling office complex in the affluent Westend neighborhood into an accommodation facility for up to 1,500 refugees. The plan has raised concerns among local residents, who worry about the potential impact on their community.
While some residents, like a young father, believe it would be better to spread out the refugees rather than concentrating them in one place, others, such as a middle-aged German man, fear that housing so many people together could lead to problems.
Amei von Hülsen-Poensgen, from the “Willkommen im Westend” alliance that supports refugees, shares these concerns and criticizes the idea of housing 1,500 people in a former office block.
Currently, over 30,000 refugees in Berlin are living in accommodation facilities run by the LAF, many of whom have already had their asylum claims approved but are unable to find affordable housing in the city’s competitive real estate market. The heated debate over the right to asylum in Germany has been fueled by the success of the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party, which secured over 30% of the vote in recent state elections.
To address the housing shortage, the Berlin Senate recently announced plans to centralize refugee accommodation under the LAF. However, Hülsen-Poensgen expresses skepticism about the plan, citing concerns about abuse and poor living conditions in state-run shelters.
Research shows that successful integration for refugees depends on having a home in an area with good support infrastructure, which Berlin lacks due to a shortage of affordable housing.
To ease the problem, the LAF is building more refugee accommodation facilities and expanding temporary accommodation at the controversial Tegel airport site, which currently houses around 5,000 people in shared tents.
While the senator for integration, Cansel Kiziltepe, wants to reduce the size of the Tegel facility, the center-right Christian Democrat (CDU) state parliamentary group leader, Dirk Stettner, argues that large-scale accommodation will continue to be needed unless the federal government changes its asylum policy.
