Municipalities – Cologne – Mayor wants fair distribution of refugees – politics
Cologne (dpa) – The Mayor of Cologne, Henriette Reker, is demanding a system for the distribution of refugees from Ukraine from the federal government. “The principle of chance still seems to rule,” criticized the non-party politician on Tuesday. “There is still no orderly distribution of the people who come to us. This WILL not go well for much longer. The federal government must now set up a system that ensures distribution according to capacity.”
At the moment, many people are coming to big cities like Cologne because they have heard about it before. “But that can’t work in the long run. As of today, we’re occupying a trade fair hall in Cologne with over 1,000 seats. I’ve heard from other cities that gymnasiums are being occupied again.” “But the refugees deserved something better,” said Reker. “The federal government must now take care of this together with the federal states.” A central and several regional hubs are required. Time is of the essence.
According to the information, more than 2,100 Ukrainian refugees have found shelter in urban accommodation in Cologne so far. The emergency reserve of 1,500 places had already been exhausted at the end of last week. From Tuesday, another 1,100 places would be available at short notice in the Cologne exhibition center.
© dpa-infocom, dpa:220315-99-528976/2