Refugee Accommodation (Germany)

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Asylum seekers home in Berlin-Siemensstadt (2013)

A refugee camp is used for accommodation of refugees , asylum seekers , people with a residence permit as a victim of human trafficking or forced prostitution and persons who are, for example, for health reasons obstacles to deportation exist. Such accommodations may include barracks , containers , decommissioned school buildings or refurbished commercial buildings . Other, decentralized options for accommodation are apartments and - as more expensive alternatives - hotels . For large volumes of refugees in the wake of war and expulsion serve refugee camp .

Legal situation

Jenfelder Moorpark initial reception center
Accommodation for 16 people

Accommodation is initially provided in initial reception facilities . After six weeks up to a maximum of six months (previously until October 24, 2015: three months), the refugees are forwarded using a quota system, the Königstein key , via distribution mechanisms regulated by state law.

According to the Asylum Act (AsylG), it is the task of the municipalities to take in refugees. According to § 53 AsylG, accommodation usually takes place in collective accommodation until the Federal Office for Migration and Refugees (BAMF) in Nuremberg has recognized a foreigner as entitled to asylum. The Leverkusen model, on the other hand, offers refugees the opportunity to search for and rent an apartment independently , even if their residence status is unsecured . The Leverkusen model is associated with cost savings in the millions for the municipalities.

Refugee accommodations in the transit areas of the airports have a character of their own as part of the airport procedure in accordance with Section 18a AsylG. The airport procedure is applied at five German airports: Berlin-Schönefeld , Dusseldorf Airport , Frankfurt Airport , Hamburg Airport and Munich Airport .

Minimum standards

There are no national minimum standards for communal accommodation. This is due, among other things, to the local self-government , which is anchored in the federal structure of the Federal Republic. A lack of minimum standards does not always indicate the actual quality of the accommodation.

Regulations on minimum standards, if any, are different in the 16 federal states (Baden-Württemberg, Berlin, Brandenburg, Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, Thuringia: binding minimum standards; Bavaria, Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt, Schleswig-Holstein: recommendations on minimum standards, Bremen, Hamburg , Hesse, Lower Saxony, North Rhine-Westphalia, Rhineland-Palatinate, Saarland: no minimum standards - status: August 2014), although not all regulations differentiate between living rooms and bedrooms and other communal areas. The minimum standards or recommendations for the living space are usually 6 to 7 m² per person (exceptions: Berlin: 4 m² for children up to six years; Baden-Württemberg until the end of 2015: 4.5 m² per person). The municipalities can set stricter rules: In the city of Leipzig, for example, a minimum standard of 7.5 m² per person applies. Conversely, even if the standards are classified as mandatory, they can be overridden for emergency shelters .

Refugee councils and welfare organizations demand standards for the minimum living space per person, the maximum number of people accommodated in a room, the location and size of the accommodation. They also call for regulations for shared areas (closed living areas with cooking facilities and sanitary facilities, common rooms, children's playrooms and outdoor facilities for recreational activities), regulations for particularly vulnerable refugees and a limitation of the length of stay in communal accommodation.

In 2016, UNICEF and the BMFSFJ , in collaboration with charities and other partners, presented minimum standards for the protection of children, young people and women in refugee accommodation. These standards include measures to protect against violence and a corresponding awareness-raising of all those working there. A non-representative study by UNICEF published in 2017 highlighted the situation of refugee children, which is often characterized by boredom, stress and violence. UNICEF managing director Christian Schneider called for binding family and child-friendly standards across Germany for accommodation and faster access to schools and day-care centers.

Refugee accommodation and building planning law

Refugee accommodation in the form of communal accommodation are often classified as facilities for social purposes within the meaning of the Building Utilization Ordinance (BauNVO) and generally approved under building law in general and special residential areas , as well as in village areas , mixed areas and core areas .

However, changes in the use of industrial and commercial buildings and new facilities in commercial areas were often the subject of legal disputes.

They decided against the use in a commercial area

  • the OVG Schleswig-Holstein 1991, since collective accommodation for asylum seekers was also used exclusively for residential purposes within the meaning of the BauGB Measures Act (BauGBMaßnG); the establishment of a home for asylum seekers in a purely commercial area is therefore not permitted (OVG Schleswig-Holstein, decision of October 16, 1991, Az. 1 M 53/91),
  • the Schwerin Administrative Court in September 2012 on the planned conversion of a guest house to an asylum seeker home in a designated industrial area (VG Schwerin 2nd Chamber, decision of September 29, 2012, Az. 2 B 409/12)
  • the administrative court Augsburg in a case dated November 2012, since the immediate vicinity of the controversial building site, which is relevant in terms of building planning law, is to be classified as an industrial area within the meaning of Section 34 (2) BauGB, Section 8 BauNVO. According to Section 8 (1) BauNVO, commercial areas were primarily used to accommodate commercial operations that were not significantly annoying; the operation of refugee accommodation was prohibited. (Administrative Court Augsburg, Az. Au 5 K 11.1967, judgment of November 29, 2012)
  • the administrative court of Baden-Württemberg in April 2014 in a legal dispute about a planned accommodation in Fellbach - Oeffingen , since a shared accommodation for asylum seekers is used in a similar way to living and such use is not compatible with the typical characteristics of a commercial area (VGH Baden-Württemberg, 8th Senate , Decision of April 9, 2014, Az. 8 S 2504/12),
  • the Munich Administrative Court in spring 2014 in a case in the municipality of Bischofswiesen , because the use of a former hotel as communal accommodation represented a change in the use of the land use plan for which the Berchtesgadener Land district office did not have the approval.
  • The Stuttgart Administrative Court ruled in July 2014: Community accommodation for asylum seekers is generally not permitted in an industrial park. It is also not exceptionally permitted as an investment for social purposes because it has a similar character to living (Stuttgart Administrative Court, judgment of July 22, 2014, Az. 11 K 3170/13).
  • the Ansbach administrative court in October 2014 the lack of territorial compatibility in a commercial area; Determinations of the type of structural use by a development plan are always neighborly protective; The same neighbor protection exists in the unplanned interior area, in which the peculiarity of the immediate surroundings corresponds to one of the building areas of the building use regulations (VG Ansbach, October 9, 2014, Az. AN 9 K 14.00830).
  • the Cologne Administrative Court on the basis of two applications by tradespeople in a business park in Cologne against a building permit for the erection of residential containers for refugees (VG Cologne, decisions of November 13, 2014, Az. 2 L 2039/14, 2 L 2050/14).

There was also the case of an agreement

  • in Bergisch Gladbach , where a neighboring metal recycling company had sued against the conversion of the Bastei-Lübbe office building acquired by the city administration into a refugee accommodation; The parties agreed not to disclose the details of the agreement in mid-March 2015.

The Bundestag voted on November 6, 2014 a bill of law to facilitate the accommodation of refugees of the Federal Council to (18/2752) in accordance with the recommendation of the Building Committee (18/3070) for the hurdles for the establishment of refugee camps in industrial areas to cut. It came into force on November 26, 2014. The Building Code (BauGB) was adapted (in particular Section 246 special regulations for individual countries; special regulations for refugee accommodation).

Christian Kühn , Bündnis 90 / Die Grünen, announced his skepticism as to whether industrial parks would meet the requirements of decent housing. Heidrun Bluhm , former head of the building department of Schwerin and member of the parliamentary group Die Linke , criticized the fact that the change in the law promoted the permanent exclusion and stigmatization of refugees.

By Article 6 of the Asylum Procedure Acceleration Act (so-called “ Asylum Package I ”) of October 10, 2015 ( Federal Law Gazette I p. 1722 ), which came into force on October 24, 2017, in view of the extremely increased number of newcomers in summer 2015, the significantly expanded.

Social situation

According to a study by Pro Asyl , the proportion of asylum seekers living in refugee accommodation is increasing. The proportion of asylum seekers who lived in apartments was 66.1 percent in 2007, and 55.7 percent in 2012.

In some federal states, minimum standards are set for the areas, for example in Hesse : “The living space per person is 6 square meters plus 3 square meters of movement area. The movement areas include in particular lounges, kitchens, sanitary facilities and corridors. "

The German Institute for Human Rights laments the conditions in the communal accommodation: “The needs of individuals or families for living space, privacy and communal rooms are not taken into account. (...) In reality it often happens that people have to stay in communal accommodation for years - that is not reasonable. "

safety

Refugee shelters are monitored and protected by security services .

The relationship between residents and security services is often tense. In September 2014, suspected ill-treatment of refugees by employees of private security services became public. There were dismissals and investigations. Affected were a facility operated by homecare in Burbach , as well as facilities in Essen and Bad Berleburg .

There is also considerable unrest from the potential for conflict among residents, which is not only due to the limited space. In the course of the refugee crisis , the German Police Union demanded at the end of September 2015 that refugees be accommodated separately according to religion. The chairman of the German Police Union, Rainer Wendt , warned that people would come together in groups according to ethnicity, religion or clan structure, who tried to enforce their own rules and ultimately attacked each other with knives and homemade weapons. He spoke of "tough criminal structures". Cross-party politicians are skeptical about a separation based on religion or origin. On the one hand there are practical difficulties, on the other hand such a separation can lead to the formation of parallel societies. It is undisputed that special care must be taken to accommodate people who are particularly vulnerable - such as children, minors and women ( see also: Article “Refugee”, section “Living conditions” ).

In the (subsequent) accommodation, men and women are usually separated according to gender. In initial reception centers , however, there is usually no gender separation. The Huffington Post reported that women often live in fear of being assaulted by other men. This also applies, for example, to married women if they are accommodated in different rooms from their husbands. The number of unreported cases of sexual assault is estimated to be very high. The situation of single women and single mothers is particularly difficult. In Hamburg, for example, eleven female refugees were relocated to women's shelters for sexual violence in the first half of 2015 and ten women were housed in counseling centers following violent acts. Left-wing politicians demanded rooms, sanitary facilities and kitchen areas for female refugees and their children, using women's shelters as a model.

In September there were several mass brawls in German refugee shelters, including in the initial reception center in Hamburg-Bergedorf , where 50 police forces were deployed in view of 200 refugees who kept clashing. There were similar disputes in Kassel-Calden , in the Leipzig exhibition hall, in Suhl and Bonn ( see also: Article “Germany in the refugee crisis” 2015, section “Conflicts between refugees” ).

Lack of internet access

According to media reports, the residents of many refugee homes have no internet access . A problem for cities, municipalities and associations that set up free WiFi in accommodation is interference liability . However, if a company provides WLAN access, liability for interference does not apply due to the provider privilege. If the public sector provides Internet access, pocket money may have to be cut by around a quarter (the media share).

However, many refugees have a smartphone . Many young refugees use mobile apps for communication, language learning and navigation.

Violations of fundamental rights

In 2018, Cevisio Software und Systeme GmbH & Co. KG received the negative Big Brother Award in the administration category for its Cevisio QMM neighborhood management software . This software was developed together with the German Red Cross specifically for the management of refugee accommodation. The jury criticized the fact that the software completely ignores the basic rights of refugees and monitors them at every turn: this software monitors movements to and on the premises, food dispensations, medical checks such as X-ray, blood and stool examinations, family relationships, religious and Ethnic affiliations and much more are recorded and stored. The data enable total control of the refugees and clearly show the many levels on which privacy can be violated. Laudator Thilo Weichert said: The software is not only worthy of the award because of the possible data protection violations with it, but above all because of the image of man behind it. Refugees are people, not things.

Private accommodation

In Rhineland-Palatinate , 92 percent of asylum seekers were still living in decentralized apartments in the summer of 2014, while in Saxony it was 29 percent at that time. In September 2014, around 40 percent of asylum seekers in North Rhine-Westphalia lived decentrally in rented apartments, 38 percent in shared accommodation and 22 percent in other reception facilities.

Some federal states do not allow refugees to be accommodated in private apartments or only allow them in exceptional cases; In North Rhine-Westphalia, for example, it is only possible under certain conditions, although there have been good experiences with the Leverkusen model and cost savings have been achieved.

In August 2014, politician Martin Patzelt wrote an open letter calling for people to think about accepting refugees in their own private houses and apartments. He made particular reference to the needs of mothers and young children. An article in the taz pointed out that a similar debate about the private accommodation of refugees had last taken place during the Bosnian War in the 1990s. The federal government's integration commissioner, Aydan Özoguz, praised the proposal as a symbol of humanity and empathy , but emphasized that doing business must be ruled out. The domestic political spokeswoman for the left-wing parliamentary group Ulla Jelpke also welcomed the proposal and at the same time pointed to the need for further political action, as in many cases the distribution of the refugees across the federal states prevented them from being accommodated with relatives of the refugees. Bernd Mesovic from Pro Asyl pointed out the need for permanent solutions and recommended that a rental contract be concluded in any case .

Internet platforms have been in existence since 2014 that refer refugees to shared apartments in Berlin and Lübeck .

attacks

Figures from the Federal Criminal Police Office (BKA)

There are repeated attacks on refugees, asylum seekers and their accommodation . These include offenses such as sedition (e.g. through neo-Nazi marches in front of the accommodations), property damage (e.g. through smearings of right-wing extremist slogans) through to arson attacks. The number of attacks on refugee shelters has increased sharply since 2011. According to the Federal Criminal Police Office (BKA), there were 18 crimes against refugee accommodation in 2011, 23 in 2012 and 69 in 2013. In 2014, the BKA registered 199 crimes against refugee accommodation, which is more than double that of the previous year. In 2015, the number of attacks more than quadrupled compared to the previous year - the BKA counted 924 crimes, including 76 arson attacks and 11 attempted arson attacks.

literature

  • Jörg Friedrich, Simon Takasaki, Peter Haslinger, Oliver Thiedmann, Christoph Borchers (Eds.): Refugees Welcome. Concepts for a decent architecture. Jovis, Berlin 2015, ISBN 978-3-86859-378-5 .
  • Michael Krautzberger : New urban planning regulations for refugee housing. In: Property market and property value . 2015, pp. 97-100.
  • Bernhard Mann : Political Refugees. Sociological advice and public health approaches in collective accommodation. Munich 2007, ISBN 978-3-638-86511-1 .
  • Bernhard Mann: Political Refugees. Social advice in collective accommodation and questions about social integration. With a foreword by a representative of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. Frankfurt am Main 1983, ISBN 3-88129-725-1 .
  • Ralf Pasel, Alexander Hagner, Hans Drexler, Ralph Boch: Home not Shelter, JOVIS Verlag Berlin 2016, ISBN 978-3-86859-447-8

See also

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Information from the Munich Refugee Council. Retrieved January 11, 2015 .
  2. ↑ Amendment to § 47 AsylG from October 24 , 2015, buzer.de
  3. ↑ Better distributing refugees regionally: starting point and starting points for a new distribution mechanism. (PDF) (No longer available online.) Institute of the German Economy, Cologne. Report for the Robert Bosch Stiftung, February 24, 2016, archived from the original on July 29, 2016 ; Retrieved July 29, 2016 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. P. 7 @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.bosch-stiftung.de
  4. ↑ Leverkusen model for refugees. In: The world . July 28, 2014, accessed January 11, 2015 .
  5. ↑ Apartment instead of container. In: Der Spiegel . August 26, 2013, accessed January 11, 2015 .
  6. ^ A b Kay Wendel: Accommodation of refugees in Germany. Comparison of regulations and practice in the federal states. (PDF) Pro Asyl, August 2014, accessed on November 1, 2016 . P. 37
  7. ↑ Kay Wendel: Accommodation of refugees in Germany. Comparison of regulations and practice in the federal states. (PDF) Pro Asyl, August 2014, accessed on November 1, 2016 . Table 14: Federal states with and without minimum standards, pp. 35–36.
  8. ↑ Kay Wendel: Accommodation of refugees in Germany. Comparison of regulations and practice in the federal states. (PDF) Pro Asyl, August 2014, accessed on November 1, 2016 . Table 15: Status of the minimum standards, minimum living space, maximum number per room, location, pp. 39–46.
  9. ↑ Kay Wendel: Accommodation of refugees in Germany. Comparison of regulations and practice in the federal states. (PDF) Pro Asyl, August 2014, accessed on November 1, 2016 . P. 49.
  10. ↑ Minimum standards for the protection of children, young people and women in refugee accommodation 2016. UNICEF and BMFSFJ, July 2016, accessed on November 1, 2016 .
  11. ↑ Unicef ​​study: Germany neglects refugee children. Spiegel online, March 21, 2017, accessed April 23, 2017 .
  12. ^ German Association of Towns and Municipalities : Refugee accommodation and urban planning rights. without date ( online )
  13. ↑ Ministry of Building, Housing, Urban Development and Transport of the State of North Rhine-Westphalia : Notes on the assessment of locations for refugee accommodation in the various areas under planning law. March 8, 2014 ( online ( memento of the original from January 11, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link has been inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this note. ) @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.mbwsv.nrw.de
  14. ^ VG Schwerin 2nd Chamber, decision of September 29, 2012, Az. 2 B 409/12
  15. ^ VG Augsburg · Judgment of November 29, 2012 · Az. Au 5 K 11.1967, Au 5 K 11.1606
  16. ↑ Bayerischer Rundfunk ( online ( memento from January 20, 2015 in the Internet Archive ))
  17. ↑ Change of use to shared accommodation for asylum seekers. Retrieved February 12, 2018 .
  18. ^ VG Ansbach, judgment of October 9, 2014, Az.AN 9 K 14.00830
  19. ↑ Bergische Landeszeitung ( online )
  20. ^ Act on measures in building planning law to facilitate the accommodation of refugees
  21. ^ German Bundestag - Construction: Refugee accommodation also in industrial areas
  22. ↑ Refugee accommodation also in commercial areas. German Bundestag , November 6, 2014, accessed on January 11, 2015 .
  23. ↑ Refugee accommodation and building planning law. Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation, Building and Nuclear Safety, November 12, 2015, archived from the original on October 12, 2017 ; accessed on June 26, 2019 (original website no longer available).
  24. ↑ Wirtschaftswoche ( online )
  25. ↑ Ordinance on the accommodation of foreign refugees in collective accommodation. State of Hesse, June 5, 1996
  26. ^ Statement by the Institute for Human Rights
  27. ^ Jannis Brühl, Violence in Accommodation in North Rhine-Westphalia. Security guard attacked the refugee with a baton , Süddeutsche Zeitung , 23 October 2014
  28. ↑ Skepticism when calling for the separation of refugees. Stern, September 29, 2015, accessed September 29, 2015 .
  29. ^ Sophia Maier: Fears, assaults, rape: That's how bad the situation is for women in refugee homes. (No longer available online.) Huffington Post, September 28, 2015, archived from the original on October 5, 2015 ; Retrieved October 4, 2015 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.huffingtonpost.de
  30. ^ Christoph Heinemann, Oliver Schirg, Jens Meyer-Wellmann: Sexual violence in refugee accommodation in Hamburg. Hamburger Abendblatt, October 5, 2015, accessed on October 11, 2015 .
  31. ^ Brawls in refugee shelters. NDR, October 1, 2015, archived from the original on October 2, 2015 ; accessed October 1, 2015 .
  32. ↑ Hamburg: 200 refugees clash in the initial reception facility. Zeit online, October 1, 2015, accessed October 1, 2015 .
  33. ↑ Germany is sitting on a powder keg - and it could soon explode. (No longer available online.) The Huffington Post, September 27, 2015, archived from the original on October 1, 2015 ; accessed October 1, 2015 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.huffingtonpost.de
  34. ↑ 14 injured in a mass brawl in a refugee camp near Kassel. (No longer available online.) The Huffington Post, September 28, 2015, archived from the original on October 1, 2015 ; accessed October 1, 2015 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.huffingtonpost.de
  35. ^ J. Richard and J. Kynast: After a mass brawl! Refugees flee from the new fair. Image accessed October 1, 2015 .
  36. ↑ Hamburg: Violence in refugee accommodation - large-scale deployment of the police. Spiegel, October 1, 2015, accessed October 1, 2015 .
  37. ↑ Jörg Breithut: Internet for Refugees: Not so easy to do good. Spiegel online, July 21, 2015, accessed on July 29, 2016 .
  38. ↑ Patrick Beuth: Refugees: No Internet without volunteers. Zeit online, October 1, 2015, accessed July 29, 2016 .
  39. ^ City of Nuremberg: No internet for refugees. Welt, March 11, 2016, accessed July 29, 2016 .
  40. ↑ Oliver Baumann-Gibbon: Digital educational offers for arriving. Federal Agency for Civic Education, March 9, 2017, accessed on July 8, 2017 .
  41. ↑ Nadia Kutscher, Lisa-Marie Kreß: "Internet equals food". Empirical study on the use of digital media by unaccompanied minor refugees: summary of the results. (PDF) German Children's Fund and University of Vechta, December 2015, accessed on July 8, 2017 .
  42. ↑ https://bigbrotherawards.de/2018/verwaltung-cevisio-software-systeme-gmbh
  43. ↑ http://www.rundschau-online.de/politik/mehr-fluechtlinge-asylkosten-in-nrw-stieg-massiv,15184890,28303568.html
  44. ^ Asylum in private homes. Deutsche Welle, August 28, 2014, accessed January 26, 2015 .
  45. ^ A b c d e Erik Peter, Daniel Bax: Private accommodation of refugees: "A good and warm-hearted signal". In: taz.de. August 26, 2014, accessed January 26, 2015 .
  46. ↑ Martin Patzelt: Press release on the situation of civil war refugees in Germany. Patzelt: Citizens should take in civil war refugees in their homes. August 22, 2014, accessed January 26, 2015 .
  47. ↑ Berlin initiative "Refugees Welcome": A room in a shared apartment for refugees. Berliner Zeitung, November 25, 2014, accessed on January 28, 2015 .
  48. ↑ Housing project for integration: students take in refugees. taz, October 20, 2014, accessed January 28, 2015 .
  49. ↑ upgrademeblog.com: 176 crimes against asylum shelters in the first half of 2015 - that's around 29 per month. In: upgrademeblog.com. Retrieved January 13, 2016 .
  50. ↑ tagesschau.de: Significantly more attacks on asylum seekers' homes. In: tagesschau.de. Retrieved January 13, 2016 .
  51. ↑ tagesschau.de: Significantly more attacks on asylum seekers' homes. In: tagesschau.de. Retrieved January 13, 2016 .