Fu Berlin defends itself against container village: dispute over refugee accommodation

Fu Berlin defends itself against container village: dispute over refugee accommodation

The wastewap on Thielallee 63 in Berlin-Dahlem, which is intended as a potential location for a container village to accommodate 260 refugees, has caused resistance in the Free University (FU). The university plans to build a building for teaching and research on the site and feels over. The President of the FU, Günter Ziegler, stated that the university management was not integrated into the decision and that the property is urgently needed for its own construction projects.

The FU had supported people who had already refugee in the past by providing them with emergency shelters at the university. The university argues that there are currently no other areas available due to its needs and construction projects. The university proposes to use empty buildings of the Federal Real Estate Authority for the accommodation of refugees.

The special representative for refugee questions at the Senate, Albrecht Broemme, checks urban areas for refugee accommodation and emphasizes that the accommodation of refugees on the fallow property of the FU would not block the university. At the end of March, the Senate decided to set up 16 other container villages in various districts in Berlin to relieve the acute lack of housing for refugees.

The resistance to the planned refugee accommodation on the universe area ensures ridiculum on the net, especially because of the FU, which is usually perceived as cosmopolitan. Some criticize the university for offering space for various events, but does not provide for temporary accommodation for refugees. The discussion about the use of the site reflects the debate about priorities and responsibilities in dealing with the refugee crisis.