Overwhelmed German officials clash over Ukraine refugees at summit

A summit on the situation of refugees has failed to break an impasse among Germany’s federal, state and local governments.

On Thursday, Reinhard Sager, the head of the German association of counties, said the summit was a disappointment. He criticized Chancellor Olaf Scholz for his absence. "We urgently need relief now," said Sager.

Local governments want the federal government to offer them more support and to implement tighter borders and faster deportations.

“The mood in the country ... it is threatening to tip,” said the interior minister of the central state of Hesse, Peter Beuth, after the Berlin summit. "That is why it is necessary that we find solutions quickly."  

Interior Minister Nancy Faeser reportedly offered more federal property to accommodate refugees, and outlined a new working structure for cooperation.

A year into the war in Ukraine, more than one million refugees from Ukraine, mostly women and children, have been registered in Germany.

Net migration from Ukraine in 2022 alone – at 962,000 – was higher than that from Syria, Afghanistan and Iraq combined between 2014 and 2016, which stood at 834,000, according to the latest data from the federal statistics office.

MG