Conflict about container village on university grounds in Berlin

Conflict about container village on university grounds in Berlin

The property on Thielallee 63 in Berlin-Dahlem is to serve as a location for a container village according to the Senate's plans to accommodate 260 refugees. However, Free University of Berlin (FU) shows resistance to this use, since it actually wants to build a building for teaching and research. President Günter Ziegler expressed resentment that the Senate plans were promoted without the consent of the university management. The FU had housed refugees in emergency accommodation in the past, but emphasized the urgent need for the area for its own construction work from 2023.

Berlin's refugee coordinator Albrecht Broemme defends the decision to use the uni -area and emphasizes that the accommodation of refugees on fallow urban areas is necessary. The FU, on the other hand, proposes to use empty buildings of the Federal Real Estate Agency nearby instead of proving the university area. The discussion about the use of space for refugee accommodation is also conducted at the federal level, since the need for living space for refugees in Berlin is still high.

In a broader context, the Senate decided at the end of March to set up 16 other container villages in Berlin in order to counter the acute need for residential needs. The locations focus primarily on the eastern part of the city, which further exacerbates the imbalance in the distribution of refugee accommodation. The expansion of the social infrastructure is an important step to ensure that refugees can be accommodated appropriately without being dependent on emergency shelters.