Giffey expects up to 100,000 refugees in Berlin

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  Huge tents stand as emergency accommodation for refugees from Ukraine on the grounds of the former Berlin-Tegel airport.

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  Beds for refugees from Ukraine are set up in tents on the tarmac of the former Tegel airport.

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  "Ukraine Arrival Centre TXL", is written above the access road to the former Tegel Airport.

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  Gerda Hasselfeldt (M), President of the German Red Cross, and Nancy Faeser (2nd from right,SPD), Federal Minister of the Interior and Home Affairs, visit emergency accommodation for refugees on the grounds of the former Berlin-Tegel Airport.

Berlin's mayor Franziska Giffey expects up to 100,000 war refugees from Ukraine to find temporary shelter in Berlin.

"We assume (...) that we will probably have 50,000 to 100,000 people here in Berlin," the SPD politician said on Friday (25 March 2022) after a visit to the Berlin Immigration Office (Lea). "After all, that's a third of a district. That is a very big challenge."

11,000 online applications for residence titles received so far

At the Lea, Ukrainian refugees who were initially accommodated in Berlin without registration and who can prove that they have accommodation have recently been able to apply for a residence title that gives them a two-year right of residence here and allows them, for example, to take up a job immediately. They can fill out the applications online and book an appointment at the Lea at the same time. According to Giffey, 11,000 online applications have been received so far.