German government pledges more financial support to address refugee crisis
Chancellor Scholz says central government to allocate additional $1.1B to help local authorities manage refugees
Syrian and Afghan migrants seen to register in front of the State Office for Health and Social Affairs (LaGeSo) in Berlin, Germany
BERLIN
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz announced on Wednesday that the central government will allocate an additional €1 billion ($1.1 billion) this year to support local authorities in addressing the refugee crisis.
Speaking at a news conference in Berlin after a meeting with the premiers of the federal states, Scholz said they had a “good and constructive” meeting and reached a common understanding on measures to manage migration.
Scholz said the additional €1 billion from the central government’s budget will be a relief for municipalities, and some of the funds will be used for digitalization in the immigration offices.
The central government and the federal states will meet again in November to discuss further financial support, and cost-sharing arrangements in the long-term.
Local authorities are facing a crisis in providing accommodation and social support for newly arrived asylum seekers, including a large number of refugees from Ukraine last year.
More than 1 million Ukrainian refugees are currently living in Germany.
Asylum applications in the first four months of the year increased by nearly 78% and reached 101,981, according to official figures. Many of them were refugees from Syria, Iraq, and Afghanistan.
Bavaria state’s Interior Minister Joachim Herrmann warned last week that the figures are likely to increase in the coming months and could reach 400,000 at the end of the year.
