12 out of Germany's 16 states currently don't have space to host new refugees, according to a media report. Meanwhile the number of unauthorized entries across the Czech-German border has reached a record high.
Space is running out in accommodation facilities for refugees and asylum seekers across Germany. Citing Germany's interior ministry, the RedaktionsNetzwerk Deutschland (editorial network Germany, or RND) on Saturday (September 3) reported that the reason for the dozen states having reached their capacity limits is the high number of refugees from Ukraine and asylum seekers from other countries.
According to RND, there was also an increase in people coming to Germany via the Balkan route. Due to the high numbers of arrivals, twelve states have activated a temporary suspension in their initial distribution system, a spokeswoman for the interior ministry told RND.
Temporary suspensions on the admission of new refugees, however, are "not unusual," according to the spokeswoman. In addition, she said, distribution is still possible because large federal states can still take in people. According to RND, the federal government is helping by making 318 federal properties available and is examining further support measures, the spokeswoman said.
"In Bavaria, the accommodation facilities for asylum seekers are increasingly at capacity," Bavaria's Interior Minister Joachim Herrmann told RND. "However, there are currently still many Ukrainians in the accommodations who fled to Germany in the first months after the outbreak of war."
Read more: German states face housing shortage for refugees
Schools lack space, too
In addition, some federal states are struggling to offer a school place to all children. At least three states weren't able to accommodate all students yet, a survey by the epd news agency revealed.
The GEW trade union said that the lack of staff at schools was a major hurdle to integration. German schools have registered more than 165,000 refugee children and teenagers from Ukraine as of Friday last week, according to information by the Assembly of Education Ministers of the German states.
The interior ministry spokesperson told RND that more than 980,000 refugees from the country had been registered in Germany since the Russian invasion of Ukraine six months ago. Of late, however, the daily number of arrivals dropped to some 870 people.
An unknown number may have traveled back to Ukraine or on to other countries, the spokesperson added. In early August, the number of border crossings from Ukraine surpassed ten million for the first time since Russia invaded the country.
Read more: More refugees in Germany in private accommodation
Arrivals to Germany from Czech Republic up 140%
Meanwhile, German newspaper Bild reported on Monday (September 5) that Germany's federal police detected about 2,000 unauthorized entries in June 2022. That's according to a report of the 'Joint Analysis and Strategy Center Illegal Migration', which Bild cited.
According to the report, this corresponds to an increase of 140% compared to the previous year. In August, more than 3,000 people entered the country without permission at the Czech border with the state of Saxony alone, it said. According to the paper, the refugees are mostly Syrians, Afghans and Iraqis.
"This development is alarming and another indication that European external border protection is showing major gaps," Heiko Teggatz, president of the federal police union, told Bild. "The smuggling gangs have repositioned themselves and are now using the route via Slovakia and the Czech Republic," he said.
Teggatz called on Interior Minister Nancy Faeser to instruct stationary border controls with the Czech Republic "without delay."
Also read: Czech Republic prepares border security amid uptick in irregular migrant arrivals
With RND, epd