Guest comment by Jens Marco Scherf - Green district administrator makes drastic asylum announcement: “Yes! The mood has changed!”

FOCUS online Guest comment by Jens Marco Scherf - Green district administrator makes drastic asylum announcement: “Yes! The mood has changed!” Article by FOCUS online guest author Jens Marco Scherf • 6 hours Green Jens Marco Scherf (49) has been district administrator of the Miltenberg district in Lower Franconia since 2014. Because of the overburdening of the municipalities by the many refugees, he wrote several incendiary letters to Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD). Anna Hornstein (Anna Hornstein Photography) Miltenberg's Green district administrator Jens Marco Scherf raged on “hard but fair” on TV in November when it came to migration. Now Scherf follows up in a guest article for FOCUS online and says: “Things won’t be good for a long time, because it hasn’t been “good” for a long time!” “The mood is changing!” – as the person responsible on site, I find it difficult to deal with the sometimes theoretical and academic discussion about the mood surrounding escape and migration! My perception on site: The mood has changed! How low must satisfaction with the federal government become, how silent must the federal government's silence be on the central questions, how high must the importance of escape and migration policy grow in the surveys before the course is finally set. With a completely uncontrolled asylum situation, we are currently endangering the successes of migration in the past and jeopardizing the social consensus for help for people in need and an economically necessary migration policy. Green district administrator on the asylum situation: “Yes! The mood has changed!” The announced decisions of the most recent Prime Minister's Conference with the goal of relocating asylum procedures beyond the EU's external border to third countries, put on the table not least by Green Prime Minister Kretschmann, were not that bad, given years of inaction by everyone responsible in Berlin and in the federal states! But first things first: What is the situation on site, in the Bavarian districts, in December 2023? Over a year ago, all 71 Bavarian districts pointed out the problem of the sharp increase in immigration of refugees from countries other than Ukraine since the summer of 2022, and a year ago I personally warned the Federal Chancellor about this. A year later, the situation on site is escalating because, firstly, the resources are absolutely overloaded, secondly, the will for decisive government action is not visible and thirdly, the mood on site has noticeably changed. Yes! The mood has changed! But only those who really look and listen will notice this. We district administrators have to represent the entire refugee policy - everyone else hides in party-political illusions It is not possible for a Bavarian district administrator, who is directly responsible on site, to permanently ignore reality. Not only I, but also my colleagues have to personally justify almost every new accommodation, in letters full of accusations, in heated discussions and, last but not least, in citizens' meetings. We district administrators have to represent the entire refugee policy, from the local housing situation to the design of the asylum system as a whole - everyone else ducks away or hides in party-political illusions! How long will we locally be able to “moderate” the lack of understanding and the trust that is dwindling to zero among large parts of the population? How strong is the extremely level-headed part of the population despite everything? How long can we ensure the accommodation, care and actually and actually absolutely necessary integration of the people coming to us? A dramatic story of failure unfolds... Since the beginning of 2023, the Miltenberg district has had to accept around 20 refugees from the state initial reception center every week, and since November it has been 40 to 50 every week! Due to the tense situation on the housing market, we have to create new places every week. There are now over 1,700 refugees living in over 90 decentralized facilities in the district. What is fatal is that public attention is focused on the primary task of accommodation Due to the renewed increase in refugees, we need emergency accommodation. Since February, the Miltenberg district has had its first emergency accommodation with 60 places, the old Röllfeld schoolhouse, which had to be reactivated in November after being occupied in the spring. In order to avoid school and club sports halls being occupied, a commercial property is currently being converted into a second emergency accommodation for up to 110 refugees. At the same time, we are looking week after week for real estate and land for further decentralized accommodation. We are currently also working on setting up thermal halls...