© dpa
Faced with rising numbers of war refugees from Ukraine as well as asylum seekers, Berlin has opened an additional shelter.
Up to 60 people were to be accommodated in a former hotel in Moabit on Friday evening, according to the State Office for Refugee Accommodation (LAF). The maximum occupancy rate is 300 people and is expected to be reached in the coming days, it said. Residents were informed of the opening of the new accommodation by means of flyers.
Integration Senator Katja Kipping (Left Party) has recently described the accommodation of refugees in Berlin as increasingly difficult. According to her, the number of asylum seekers has increased significantly since the summer. In the first nine months of the year, 12,237 new asylum seekers were registered. In the same period of the previous year, there were 7812, and in 2021 as a whole there were 12,175. A large proportion of these, although not all, will remain in Berlin for the time being.
According to its own information, the LAF is trying to find more accommodation. According to Kipping, about 6,000 new places have been created in reception and communal facilities in recent months, bringing the total number of places to 27,700.