University of Berlin: Dispute over the property for refugee village

University of Berlin: Dispute over the property for refugee village

The planned establishment of a container village for 260 refugees on a fallow unibles in Berlin-Dahlem ensures protests, especially at the Free University. The university intends to build a building for teaching and research there. The Senate's refugee coordinator announced that she would like to temporarily accommodate migrants on the site, which was rejected by the university. The university management felt overwhelmed and emphasized the willingness to support refugees, but pointed out that the area was needed for its own construction projects after 2023.

The university proposed to use empty buildings of the Federal Real Estate Agency nearby as an alternative. The Senate plans provide to build a total of 16 other container villages in Berlin in order to solve the problem of the lack of living space for refugees. The locations mainly focus on the eastern part of the city, which leads to an imbalance in the distribution of refugees. Nine container villages are created in the East German districts.

The resistance to the refugee accommodation at the Free University in Steglitz-Zehlendorf reflects a general problem, especially in elegant parts of the city. For example, in Heckeshorn on the Wannsee, the move of refugees has been prevented into an empty lung clinic for years. The resistance of the FU is discussed on the Internet, with some users who criticize the university for its supposed unscropulously. Despite the resistance, the need for further decentralized accommodations for refugees.