The Erzgebirge district is throwing Ukrainians out of their housing to make room for other asylum seekers. Those affected fear for their existence and the Refugee Council has sharply criticized the approach.
The ominous letter was in the Ukrainian family’s mailbox on June 1st. They are supposed to leave their apartment in the Erzgebirge district and find a new place to live within six weeks, by July 15th. “That’s not possible in Germany,” Maria (name changed) told FOCUS online in view of the deadline.
Around 1,000 Ukrainians who fled the war have received similar mail from the Erzgebirgskreis district administration in recent months. They currently live in so-called guarantor apartments that the administration has rented for asylum seekers. However, war refugees from Ukraine are not included in this list; they are treated the same as people receiving citizen benefits. Therefore, the guarantor apartments are not intended for them.
Formally, the district’s approach is correct. For many Ukrainians, however, the request came as a surprise. Maria and her family of four have now been living in the apartment for two years. The children go to school nearby, the parents attend language courses; the family has found a footing here. They looked for alternatives, but did not find any. “We viewed an apartment. But it would need to be renovated – and that takes time,” says family father Vitali (name changed).
Time that the family doesn’t have. Bureaucratic hurdles also make it difficult to find a place to live quickly, as one helper explains. The job center must first approve the new apartment. Then comes the application for the deposit loan, and only once the rental agreement has been signed can an application for furnishing the apartment be submitted.
Furthermore, the furniture can only be purchased once the application has been approved. “Some of the Ukrainians had to move into empty apartments,” she says. They were only able to start furnishing after one or two weeks. The search for an apartment itself is therefore not necessarily the problem. Rather, the Ukrainians are “relatively left alone” by the authorities in this complex process, complains the helper: “Most of them didn’t even know what to do at the beginning.”
Shortly after the notices of termination were sent, the employees of the offices were also overwhelmed. She kept receiving contradictory answers to her questions. This has now improved. But moving to another district means that families with children have to wait again for a school place and places in language courses – the latter can take up to a year.
At the end of May, district administrator Rico Anton (CDU) defended the course: “Receiving citizen’s allowance not only entails rights, but also obligations.” The district administration had also stressed that the eviction deadlines would be interpreted leniently. However, forced evictions “cannot be ruled out.” The Ukrainians affected were also informed about the legal situation at an early stage.
Meanwhile, the Saxon Refugee Council has sent clear criticism to the Erzgebirge district. “The message is: the boat is full; regardless of the facts,” says spokesman Dave Schmidtke. He accuses District Administrator Anton of populism, of wanting to send a signal and deter refugees at the expense of the Ukrainian refugees. The migration pressure has noticeably decreased in recent months, and the initial reception centers in Saxony are not even 40 percent full. “This is scaremongering that has nothing to do with reality,” he says of the argument that the places in the guarantor apartments are needed for other asylum seekers.
The Ukrainians should also be given as much time to move as the authorities need to process the request. Six weeks is unrealistic. The accommodation of refugees in gymnasiums in the Erzgebirge district is just as unnecessary. “We know that the living space exists,” says Schmidtke, describing the conditions there as degrading. Without a kitchen and with showers and sinks from the GDR, and in the meantime without hot water, this is degrading, especially for vulnerable people.
After criticizing the conditions, helpers were banned from entering the camp. “It is particularly important to support commitment in Saxony,” says the refugee council spokesman, pointing to the high approval ratings for the AfD. Maria and Vitali are trying to keep their apartment despite the termination. To do this, they would have to enter into their own rental agreement with the landlord and have the contract approved by the job center. In many cases, this has been successful, according to helpers and media reports. However, these apartments are then no longer available for other asylum seekers.
Actually, Ukrainian families like Maria and Vitali have other priorities than looking for an apartment. “It’s important for us to learn German and look for work,” says Maria. She and her husband want to take the B2 certificate and a specialist language exam soon so that they can then pursue their careers and earn their own money. After that, they would be better able to look for a suitable apartment. In addition, they have two school-age children that they look after.
“That’s extra stress. We’re worried about the July 15 deadline,” says Maria about the termination. Nevertheless, it’s important for both of them to emphasize how grateful they are to Germany for the support. They also received a lot of help in the Erzgebirge district.
