Thousands of people live in Germany’s former Tegel Airport, which has been converted into a massive asylum accommodation. However, living conditions there are described as “catastrophic” despite taxpayers footing a bill that costs nearly a million euros every day and rates per tenant that rival four-star hotels.
The tent city there holds approximately 4,000 people, including 3,000 Ukrainian refugees and 800 asylum seekers from various other countries. It was supposed to be a reception center but many people have been living in emergency accommodations for years.
Now, the Federal Audit Office is criticizing the State Office for Refugee Affairs (LAF) for its management of the accommodation, which is the largest and most expensive in the country. In 2023, it cost €298 million, amounting to more than 800,000 per day. An enormous €90 million of that sum was spent on security, which involves between 230 and 300 security guards per shift. That is one-third of all the money spent on housing migrants in the facility.
Germany: Berlin locals express fear over plans to house 1,200 migrants in 3 massive high-rise hotel buildings. Politicians in LIchtenberg say they were not even consulted in the matter. https://t.co/pDQ9la9T2I
— Remix News & Views (@RMXnews) November 4, 2024In an interview with Welt, a Red Cross employee who speaks fluent Russian and Ukrainian and was set to be laid off along with 400 other employees, described “miserable” conditions at Tegel. Serving as a translator, she worked in a variety of roles, including resolving conflicts and organizing various aspects of daily life in the asylum center
She noted that the facility is filthy and crawling with bed bugs, which many employees fear bringing home with them. In addition, she said the food is terrible, which is an ongoing complaint of many asylum seekers in Germany. She also described tensions between the cooking staff and many of the people living in the asylum center.
🇩🇪🚨Germany's Green Party is calling for "women-only" train cars in Berlin due to soaring sexual assaults.
In February, Iranian migrant Moshen K. raped a 63-year-old woman on the U3 train line, sparking outrage.
Since 2013, sexual violence crimes have jumped 260% in Berlin. pic.twitter.com/Xunuj84hpu
— Remix News & Views (@RMXnews) November 18, 2024“Recently there was some kind of soup with chocolate. I saw meatballs with ice on them because they hadn’t been properly defrosted. The asylum seekers secretly take bread with them at breakfast to give to their children at lunch. For breakfast, there is bread with cold cuts, sometimes another product to choose from – but only one,” Valeria said, which is not her real name
Perhaps one of the most amazing aspects of the entire situation at Tegel is the sheer cost for accommodating the migrants. Welt noted that the costs amount to €260 per night.
“The conditions in which the asylum seekers live are never worth €260 per night. For that money, you could sleep in a four-star hotel,” said Valeria.
BREAKING: 500 migrants will be settled in a German village of just 600, doubling the population.
Petersdorf, located outside Berlin, voted against housing migrants in a nearby army barracks.
Their vote didn't matter.
Mayor Thomas Schoppe said: “We were totally betrayed.” pic.twitter.com/bPK1vxUaz8
— Remix News & Views (@RMXnews) October 31, 2024Of course, the asylum center has other costs that a hotel might not necessarily have, such as providing three meals a day instead of just one. However, the food quality is so poor that the vendors are obviously making fat margins on what they charge. Berlin authorities also note that the contracting practices at the facility raise serious questions. Unlike in other Berlin accommodations, the State Office for Refugee Affairs (LAF) does not handle contracts at Tegel, but instead the state-owned Messe Berlin. In turn, they rely on Teamflex Solutions, whose profits have soared due to its role in Tegel, jumping from €450,000 a year in 2019 to €8.2 million in 2022, according to Tagesspiegel.
Valeria also describes growing tensions between different groups, alcohol abuse, drugs, and even cases where children are exposed to pornography from other residents of the asylum center.
“Ukrainians and regular asylum seekers are housed in different areas. We tend to have family and neighborhood conflicts. Husbands and wives argue. Neighbors complain because children are too loud or other neighbors are drunk. Alcohol is forbidden, but the security guards at the entrance cannot check whether someone has half filled their Coke bottle with liquor. There have been cases where men have watched porn on their cell phones and there were children nearby. For fire safety reasons, residents are not allowed to hang sheets or towels over their beds. So there is no privacy in the accommodation, and the psychological stress is very high for everyone. Tegel is actually a systematic threat to the welfare of children,” she said.
Berlin Police Chief Barbara Slowik warns that immigration levels are straining resources amid a rise in violent crimes. https://t.co/xtqIKZ2zGi
— Remix News & Views (@RMXnews) October 28, 2024Numerous reports have also documented rape and violence at the facility; however, some cases are truly shocking, including an instance when fighting broke out between Syrians and Kurds. During the incident, the Kurds say that up to 20 security guards removed their uniforms to help the Syrians who were threatening to behead the Kurds, likely due to ethnic ties the guards have with the Syrian groups.
As Remix News has reported, there is an entire massive industry based around migration, including housing migrants, providing security, and a variety of other services. Real estate companies, including international real estate companies, are making billions off of housing migrants, often receiving above-market rates for housing migrants in Germany, which is a similar story playing out throughout the West. In addition, many NGOs earn money entirely through serving migrants, protecting their interests, and fighting against anti-immigration parties. In short, there are extraordinary sums of money involved in mass immigration.
