German refugee summit disappoints overwhelmed local officials

BERLIN (Reuters) – A refugee summit failed to break an impasse among Germany’s federal, state and local governments on Thursday, prolonging what some officials say is an untenable situation that threatens to flip sentiment against refugees.

Local governments say they are being asked to take on an increasing number of refugees, pushing resources to their limit, despite having no say in distribution or migration policy. They want the federal government to offer them more support and to implement tighter borders and faster deportations.

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

Interior Minister Nancy Faeser offered more federal properties to accommodate refugees and outlined a new working structure for cooperation, with a plan to meet again in spring.

However, she held off on delivering on promises of further financial support for the states, stressing the government would stick with the 2.75 billion euros it already pledged this year.

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

Reinhard Sager, the head of the German association of counties, called the summit a disappointment and criticized Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s absence, saying a meeting was overdue.

“We urgently need relief now,” said Sager.

A year into the war in Ukraine, more than 1.06 million refugees, mostly women and children, from Ukraine were registered in Germany, according to Interior Ministry figures.

A big influx of refugees from Ukraine that had been expected in winter has failed to materialize, an Interior Ministry spokesperson said on Wednesday, adding the number of people coming to Germany from Ukraine has been stable for a while.

(Reporting by Alexander Ratz, Rene Wagner and Miranda Murray; Editing by Bernadette Baum)