- Title: EUROPE-MIGRANTS/GERMANY Eastern German city sets up tents as refugee influx soars
- Date: 25th July 2015
- Summary: EISENHUETTENSTADT, GERMANY (JULY 25, 2015) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF RED CROSS WORKERS AND CITY OFFICIALS SETTING UP TENTS IN FIELD ON THE OUTSKIRTS OF THE EASTERN GERMAN CITY OF EISENHUETTENSTADT ON THE POLISH BORDER UNDER-SECRETARY FOR THE GERMAN STATE OF BRANDENBURG, MATTHIAS KAHL AND RED CROSS OFFICIALS LOOKING AT TENT RED CROSS WORKERS SETTING UP TENTS (SOUNDBITE) (German) UNDER-SECRETARY FOR THE GERMAN STATE OF BRANDENBURG, MATTHIAS KAHL, SAYING: "Eisenhuettenstadt has a capacity of around 1,800 places. All of those are filled. We have roughly 500 asylum seekers arriving every week and this strong influx of asylum seekers, especially from the Western Balkans, unfortunately forces us and has forced us to set up tents both at the main refugee shelter and now here for another 500 people." RED CROSS WORKERS SETTING UP TENTS (SOUNDBITE) (German) UNDER-SECRETARY FOR THE GERMAN STATE OF BRANDENBURG, MATTHIAS KAHL, SAYING: "The problem is that the growing influx of asylum seekers, especially from the Western Balkans, currently bursts our asylum system. As a state, we are swamped with the sheer number of people, the counties are overwhelmed with building shelters and housing the people and the communities are overwhelmed with accommodating the children in nurseries and schools. The many, many volunteers who arrange for welcome ceremonies and German lessons and so on are also overwhelmed. What you are seeing here is the extent of this influx, so to say." RED CROSS WORKERS SETTING UP TENT PEOPLE WITH CHILD ENTERING LOCAL REFUGEE SHELTER BOY WALKS PAST CONTAINER HOME AS SMALL GIRL LOOKS OUT OF A WINDOW CHILDREN CLOTHING HANGING FROM CLOTHES LINE PEOPLE WITH CHILDREN WALKING ON GROUNDS OF REFUGEE SHELTER VARIOUS EXTERIOR OF BUILDING WHERE REFUGEES LIVE BOYS PLAYING SOCCER BARBED WIRE YOUNG MEN AND BOY SITTING ON BENCH VARIOUS OF GREEN TENTS SET UP OUTSIDE BUILDING AT REFUGEE SHELTER
- Embargoed: 9th August 2015 13:00
- Keywords:
- Location: Germany
- Country: Germany
- Topics: General
- Reuters ID: LVACQNDAVWC9VXWCJWPEQ46K172M
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: The eastern German state of Brandenburg began setting up tents in Eisenhuettenstadt on Saturday (July 25) to accommodate a growing number of asylum-seekers, as Germany struggles to provide housing to a record-breaking number of new arrivals.
The state said in a statement that it was responding to the "very high number of asylum-seekers" with an "emergency measure."
As Red Cross workers were busy setting up rows of tents intended for seven people each, the state's under-secretary for interior affairs, Matthias Kahl, said the city on the Polish border "has a capacity of around 1,800 places."
"All of those are filled. We have roughly 500 asylum seekers arriving every week and this strong influx of asylum seekers, especially from the Western Balkans, unfortunately forces us and has forced us to set up tents both at the main refugee shelter and now here for another 500 people."
Speaking for Brandenburg, Kahl said that "as a state, we are swamped with the sheer number of people, the counties are overwhelmed with building shelters and housing the people and the communities are overwhelmed with accommodating the children in kindergartens and schools."
"The many, many volunteers who arrange for welcome ceremonies and German lessons and so on are also overwhelmed. What you are seeing here is the extent of this influx."
More than twice as many refugees are expected in Germany this year than the 200,000 who sought shelter last year.
Of the 85,394 arrivals in the first quarter alone, most came from Kosovo, Syria, Serbia, Albania, Iraq and Afghanistan.
In poor regions of Germany, fears of competition from refugees for state resources are high.
In well-off areas, fears of falling property values or a rise in crime also fuel protests and resistance to new shelters being created.
In a recent speech in Berlin, President Joachim Gauck departed from his prepared text to condemn the attacks in an unusually strong language.
"These vile attacks on refugee shelters ... it's unbearable," he said. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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