New forecast on refugee numbers: Additional capacity needed for accommodation and care

Lord Mayor Barbara Ludwig: "The city has already experienced and coped with several population migrations over the past 150 years. This influx of people of many nationalities is not easy to organise. But Chemnitz will manage to deal with it. I ask the citizens for their support and trust."

By 14 August 2015, 730 asylum seekers had been assigned to the city of Chemnitz so far this year. At the same time, the city of Chemnitz had accommodated a total of 1,495 people, 310 of whom (20.7 %) were in shared accommodation and 1,185 (79.3 %) in flats. In addition, around 250 unaccompanied minors (umA) travelled to Saxony.

If the forecast materialises in this form, the city of Chemnitz would now have to accommodate around 2,450 asylum seekers in 2015 instead of the 1,400 previously planned. This means that around 390 people would have to be accommodated in the months of September to December 2015; this corresponds to around 100 people per week - if the distribution is organised evenly by the state. This means that around 100 flats per month would have to be rented and furnished. Private housing offers are increasingly being used for this purpose; a corresponding form for offers can be found on the municipal website.

The city of Chemnitz is also currently analysing what additional requirements this will place on accommodation options, social care structures, the care of unaccompanied underage refugees, the expansion of secondary school capacities and the corresponding equipment, for example.

Locations have been finalised following tenders for further central accommodation

In March, the city council approved the concept for the accommodation and care of asylum seekers in Chemnitz. Based on the forecasts at the time, the concept assumed that Chemnitz would have to take in at least 1,400 new refugees this year.

In order to meet the challenges associated with this development, strategic, organisational and personnel realignments became necessary. The City of Chemnitz still aims to provide 1/3 of the accommodation in shared accommodation and 2/3 in decentralised accommodation.

In order to cover the demand for accommodation places this year, the provision of two further shared accommodation centres with a maximum capacity of 150 places each has been prepared in addition to the new rental of flats. A corresponding tender procedure for the operation of the facilities has now been carried out.

The properties will be refurbished and operated by WuV Wohn- und Verwaltungsgesellschaft Chemnitz GmbH. The facilities are located at Straßburger Straße 1-3 and Annaberger Straße 231 and each has a capacity of 150 places. The costs for both accommodation centres are around 2.75 million euros per year.

In September, there will be a residents' meeting to inform and involve residents and the clubs, associations and initiatives active in the respective neighbourhood at an early stage, at which the City of Chemnitz will provide information about the accommodation of asylum seekers in the respective facility. The exact dates and locations will be announced to the respective residents in good time via letterbox flyers or notices in the neighbouring houses.

Before the facilities open on 1 January 2016, there will also be an open day where interested parties can gain an impression of the accommodation situation for asylum seekers. These dates will also be announced in good time.

Accommodation for unaccompanied refugee minors

In addition to creating new accommodation places in communal facilities, the city of Chemnitz also faces the challenge of creating a facility to take unaccompanied minors into care, a so-called clearing house, in the coming months, which must be ready for operation by 1 January 2016.

This is necessary as the federal government is planning to pass a law to improve the accommodation, care and support of foreign young people, which is due to come into force on 1 January 2016.

A corresponding draft resolution (B-225/2015) on the creation of the clearing house has now been prepared by the City of Chemnitz and will be discussed by the Youth Welfare Committee on 1 September 2015. An expression of interest procedure among independent youth welfare organisations is planned for this.

Lord Mayor Barbara Ludwig: "However, it is also clear that the challenges of the coming months cannot be met without the commitment of the citizens who are already working in large numbers, e.g. in various associations or as sponsors, for refugees in the city of Chemnitz. This commitment deserves a big thank you. Further support is always welcome."

Costs only partially covered by a lump sum from the Free State

The Free State of Saxony has previously granted local authorities and districts a flat-rate reimbursement of 1,500 euros per person accommodated and quarter for the costs of receiving and accommodating refugees, and 1,900 euros since 2015. The lump sum is available for the costs of accommodation, the provision of benefits and health care. However, the actual expenses for accommodation, benefits and social care are not covered by the lump sum.

The individual departments of the city administration are currently recording all expenses, income and investments related to asylum as at 30 June 2015 as well as the expected result at the end of the year. According to initial projections, a deficit of around €7.5 million is expected - although this is based on the refugee figures prior to the updated forecast. As things stand, this deficit can be partially cushioned by allocations or newly launched funding programmes. For example, the 30 million euros announced by the Free State last week for the districts and independent cities, which are to be paid out in 2015 and 2016 respectively.

This must be included in the current calculation in the coming days in order to be able to make a comprehensive statement on the relationship between the costs and the cost reimbursements from the Free State and to establish actual cost transparency.

Further information:

Further background information, questions and answers and contact addresses for offers of help can be found at www.chemnitz.de.