University resistance against refugee village in Dahlem

University resistance against refugee village in Dahlem

The wasteful property on Thielallee 63 in Berlin-Dahlem, which is currently still being used as a parking space, is the focus of controversy. The Senate plans to build a container village for 260 refugees on this area. This encounters resistance, especially at the Free University, which originally wanted to build a building for teaching and research on the site. The President of the University, Günter Ziegler, feels over and expressed resentment about the decision of the Senate, without prior consent to the university management.

Free University of Berlin signaled its fundamental willingness to support refugee people, but pointed out that the area would be needed for its own construction projects from 2023. The university proposed to use empty buildings of the Federal Real Estate Agency at the Thielallee 92 location as an alternative accommodation for refugees. The special representative for refugee issues at the Senate, Broemme, emphasized that the accommodation of refugees on the broken university area was possible as long as no construction activities were planned.

At the end of March, the Senate decided to create 16 other container villages in Berlin, as the need for living space for refugees is still high. The planned locations mainly focus on the eastern part of the city, which could increase the existing imbalances in the population composition. Despite local resistance and criticism on the Internet, in particular at the attitude of the Free University, the authorities emphasized the need to quickly provide additional decentralized accommodations for refugees.