Boris Palmer warns that people with low incomes are being pushed out by refugees. The Mayor demands: Down with the German standards – otherwise there will be too little left for everyone.
Tübingen’s Lord Mayor Boris Palmer warns of severe cuts for many citizens if there are no quick pragmatic solutions to the refugee crisis. Resources would be scarce, he warned on Thursday at “Maybrit Illner”. But: “It’s not discussed honestly because you don’t want to face it.”
The guests
- Hendrik Wüst (CDU), Prime Minister of North Rhine-Westphalia
- Malu Dreyer (SPD), Prime Minister of Rhineland-Palatinate
- Boris Palmer, mayor of Tübingen
- Tino Schomann (CDU), district administrator of the Northwest Mecklenburg district
- Hanna Stoiak, Ukrainian doctor
- Helene Bubrowski, “Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung”
According to Palmer, this includes a “cut-out competition from people with lower incomes” by refugees. The latter should be given preference when allocating social housing
According to the mayor, every fifth social housing in Tübingen goes to refugees. “They stay,” Palmer stated. The result is that seniors with low pensions can no longer find affordable homes in the city.
Illner: That’s why many Ukrainians don’t work
The pediatrician Hanna Stoiak, who fled from the Ukraine, has found a place to stay. She is currently living with her daughter on social assistance, as she is currently only allowed to work in a practice as an intern. “It’s not that easy for me. I want to go to work as soon as possible,” Stoiak explained on the show. It could take a year or two for her to get her license to practice medicine in Germany. The Ukrainian had to wait five months for the language course she needed.
“We have to get away from the German bureaucratic standards. I would let her work tomorrow because she can and just put the paperwork aside,” said Palmer. For Stoiak it is “almost degrading not to be able to live from your work”. At the same time, there is a shortage of doctors in Germany, not least when it comes to caring for the many Ukrainian refugees.
For specialists like Stoiak there must be interim solutions, Palmer demanded. “The fact that something like this is not possible in Germany shows our problem,” he criticized and demanded: “Don’t prevent everything with bans.”
“We need order,” the Tübingen mayor demanded, with a view to the care and distribution of asylum seekers. Half of them are not allowed to stay in Germany. His demand: The federal states keep applicants in central reception facilities until their recognition or deportation has been decided. “And we take on everyone who is allowed to stay. That would be a fair distribution,” said Palmer. According to the “Tagesschau”, a similar demand by the German Association of Cities was rejected by the SPD, FDP and also Palmer’s Greens (his membership has been suspended for the time being).
Wüst: “We have to be a bit honest”
The idea of anchor centers is just as little new as readmission agreements with countries of origin, said the “FAZ” journalist Helene Bubrowski. “But that’s not how it works.” Most of the time, the process would drag on. Deportations are also incredibly time-consuming and expensive. Some politicians are therefore showing resignation. In view of demands to reduce asylum benefits, the journalist pointed out that a certain level is protected by the Basic Law and a corresponding reduction is therefore unconstitutional.
Palmer got a lot of approval from the two CDU guests with “Maybrit Illner”. “We have to be a bit honest about how affordable it is,” emphasized the Prime Minister of North Rhine-Westphalia, Hendrik Wüst, with a view to the better social benefits in Germany.
“We want to do justice to these people,” said the Christian Democrat. Therefore, a fair distribution in Europe of the refugees in Germany as well as a larger share of the federal government in the costs is necessary. “Thinking order and humanity together, speeding up procedures, lowering standards – all of these things are necessary now and we have to talk to the federal government about them,” said the Prime Minister who was connected.
