Starnberg: Paper fiasco in Berlin – Starnberg
The Bundesdruckerei was temporarily unable to supply enough paper for the registration of people from Ukraine. Which brings us to the question: What is actually still to come?
Being a local politician in these times – there are, well, easier tasks. First came the pandemic, which demanded a lot from everyone. In addition to Jens Spahn and Karl Lauterbach, regional and municipal councils also got frustrated with the Corona measures. And now? If war is raging in Europe, and while federal politicians are busy discussing the need for arms deliveries on talk shows and separate consideration is given to the question of who has to travel to Kyiv and when, the local authorities in the meantime take care of the refugees from the Ukraine. They organize living space and, together with the many volunteers, set up provisional childcare. You also take care of the administrative stuff: the newcomers suddenly have to be registered and sooner or later they have to be given residence permits. That’s what the bureaucracy wants.
At least in theory. Because Bundesdruckerei has to make the necessary raw materials, i.e. paper, available to the local authorities for the documents. And that was precisely the problem at times: because the print shop was temporarily unable to supply enough paper. This has once again held up operations in Starnberg and the other districts and, for some responsible persons in the region, represented a sad climax in terms of nonsensical specifications and a lack of support from Berlin. It started right away with the arrival of people from the Ukraine, when the federal government failed to control it centrally. As a result, districts close to large cities such as Starnberg, with around 2,000 people, have taken in significantly more people than originally planned. In times of need, that goes without saying. Only: Wouldn’t the federal and state governments do a little more support? Instead, from next Wednesday onwards, the job center will no longer be responsible for the refugees. The result: the municipalities are now supposed to take on a third of the state services for the refugees. It is not yet clear whether the cities and municipalities will bear the costs. Anyone who, like Starnberg, has also taken in an above-average number of people will receive above-average problems in return from a higher authority as thanks.
The paper fiasco leads to the question of what other measures the federal government can actually come up with to make it more difficult for the municipalities to look after the refugees. The possibilities are far from exhausted. But you have to figure that out yourself in Munich and Berlin. After all, the municipalities cannot do everything.