Berlin's disused airport to provide temporary shelter for refugees
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Version 0 of 1. Berlin’s disused Tempelhof airport is to temporarily house more than a thousand refugees, the city senate has confirmed, as the search for large-scale emergency accommodation in the German capital grows more frantic. Two hangars at the abandoned airport, famous for its use by the western allies during the Berlin airlift in 1948, have been earmarked to house up to 1,200 refugees, said Regina Kneiding, spokeswoman for the Berlin senate department of health and social affairs on Monday. “We don’t know exactly when, but refugees will move in to Tempelhof, and it will be soon,” said Kneiding. On Sunday, Berlin mayor Michael Müller told broadcaster RBB refugees would be housed in the Nazi-era terminal “in the next few days”. The colossal empty building is now largely used for cultural events and concerts. This weekend, it became the first venue in Europe to host the touring Lollapalooza music festival. First raised over the summer, the prospect of putting up refugees in the airport has proved controversial. As recently as last week, the city senate said they had ruled out the site on the grounds that it lacked necessary bathroom and toilet facilities. But concerns have been laid aside, Kneiding said, in light of the city’s scramble for large-scale refugee accommodation. “We no longer have enough space in office buildings and schools so we’ve been looking for bigger buildings which can house a lot of people at once,” she said. Finer details of the plan still need to be ironed out, said Kneiding, such as how to separate off parts of the cavernous terminal interior into living spaces, perhaps using tents or shipping containers. One possible option is to let refugees use the shower and bathroom facilities at a nearby outdoor swimming pool once it has closed for the winter, the Berliner Zeitung newspaper reported. Germany’s recent influx has seen more than a thousand refugees arriving in Berlin every day, many on trains from Munich. On arrival, newcomers face long waits at the main registration centre before being assigned to one of the city’s shelters. The backlog has meant many have had to sleep rough while they wait, a situation authorities are keen to address before Berlin’s harsh winter closes in. |