First clearing house goes into operation
Unaccompanied foreign minors moved out of the Haus des Sports
On 1 February 2016, 50 unaccompanied refugee minors moved from their interim accommodation in the former "Haus des Sports" to the newly established clearing house at Ritterstraße 7. The facility is run by the Arbeiterwohlfahrt Kreisverband Chemnitz und Umgebung (AWO).
Over a four-month construction period, living areas were created there, mostly as 2-bed and 1-bed rooms. The young people can use sports equipment in the basement of the clearing house. A manager's office, the kitchen and the dining room are located on the ground floor and on the other two floors, there is a lounge, a kitchenette and offices for employees of the youth welfare office as well as a training room for language courses.
Up to 50 unaccompanied minors can be looked after here for three months. During this time, the refugees are given time to settle down. They are assigned a guardian and also receive socio-educational support. Together with social pedagogues from the Office for Youth and Family, they go through a clearing process that develops prospects for the young foreigners. If no family members can be found, the children and young people are looked after until they reach the age of majority. This can be with foster parents or usually in a supervised youth residential group.
The city of Chemnitz has currently taken in a total of 210 unaccompanied foreign minors. These are children and young people from Syria and other countries in crisis who arrive in Germany without parents or relatives. The sharp rise in the number of these young refugees in autumn 2015 prompted the city to temporarily accommodate them in the former "Haus des Sports" in Reichenhainer Straße from November.
In addition to the clearing house in Ritterstraße in Bernsdorf, a second one is currently being set up in Friedrich-Hähnel-Straße, which will be managed by Heim gGmbH and is due to open at the end of February.
The building used as interim accommodation in the Sportforum is now being renovated and will later be used for athletes again.