Senate wants to create space for an initial 20,000 refugees

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  Sisters Ioanna (r) and Anna stand with little Aaron (8 months) in Berlin Central Station after their escape from Kiev. They arrived by train from Warsaw with another sister, their mother, and two children.

• Helpers welcome a mother and her daughter at Berlin Central Station after their arrival from Warsaw. Both have fled the war in Ukraine.

• Kristina, who fled from Kiev, hands her Ukrainian passports to a helper at the main train station with her son Emanuel in her arms. Kristina arrived by train from Warsaw with two sisters, her mother, and two children.

• Helpers wait for the train from Warsaw with refugees from Ukraine inside Berlin Central Station

• Berlin's Senator for Social Affairs, Katja Kipping

The Berlin Senate wants to create space for an initial 20,000 refugees from Ukraine. "We do not yet know exactly how many there will be," said Governing Mayor Franziska Giffey on Tuesday (March 01, 2022) after the Senate meeting.

According to Senator for Social Services and Integration Katja Kipping (Left Party), new accommodation options are to be created over the course of the week, e.g. in a container village or a refurbished house intended to accommodate seasonal workers. Many accommodation offers are also coming from the citizens of Berlin - in some cases, entire buildings are offered. The refugees first come to the arrival center in Reinickendorf and will be distributed to the various accommodations from there.

No application for political asylum necessary for the time being

On Monday alone, 350 war refugees were accommodated by the State Office for Refugee Affairs. According to the Senate Department, people from Ukraine are not obligated to apply for political asylum in Germany, although some do. They would likely be recognized as war refugees throughout Europe and thus receive residency status.