Bavaria's anchor centers: fewer refugees, more disputes about the future!

Bavaria's anchor centers: fewer refugees, more disputes about the future!

The situation of refugees in Bavaria remains a hot topic. Previous reports show that the initial reception centers in Bavaria are less busy than last year. Loud South German newspaper At the end of May 2023, around 8,700 people lived in the anchor centers. Last year there were 10,900. The decline is remarkable, especially when you consider that at the beginning of 2023 around 10,250 migrants were housed in these facilities.

A closer look at the individual locations shows that there has been an increase of around 1,200 people in the initial reception center in Lower Franconia, 200 more than in the previous year. In contrast, the number of refugees in the Bamberg anchor center fell from 1,500 in May 2022 to 700 in May 2023. The dispute over the future of the Bamberg center remains active as the city pushes for decentralized accommodation while the Free State wants to continue to stick to the existing structure.

What are anchor centers?

But what exactly are these anchor centers? As in Bavarian Refugee Council described, the letters ANKER stand for “arrival, municipal distribution, decision and repatriation”. Since their nationwide introduction on August 1, 2018, these facilities have become the first point of contact for asylum seekers. People from different backgrounds live there, regardless of the status of their asylum procedure, sometimes for months to years.

Living conditions in these centers are often precarious. Up to 1,000 people share shared rooms and the sanitary facilities are often inadequate. Security services and police operations are commonplace, while personal items such as hairdryers or kettles are not permitted. Children generally receive only rudimentary education and medical care depends on sporadic visits from doctors.

Statistics and figures on migrants

Public interest in data on escape and asylum remains high. Like that Bavarian State Statistical Office announces, refugees and asylum seekers are recorded in the population figures, but are not shown separately. The total capacity of the anchor centers is over 12,000 available spaces. Occupancy at the places for subsequent accommodation is also high at around 90 percent - at the beginning of June, 122,400 of around 136,000 places were occupied.

The distribution of migrants takes place according to a legally established key, which ensures that the burden is distributed more evenly. Nevertheless, criticism of the facilities and living conditions in the anchor centers remains loud and unheard. Human rights organizations warn of the difficult conditions that severely affect the quality of life of asylum seekers.

Given these challenges, it is questionable what the future of anchor centers will actually look like. While facilities continue to be needed, the conversation about more decentralized solutions is moving into the background, but remains essential to the discussion about humanitarian standards in refugee accommodation.