The city of Monheim am Rhein in North Rhine-Westphalia is moving forward with plans to accommodate dozens of asylum seekers in a container facility on the grounds of a school center with two primary schools and a special needs school, despite parents expressing deep dissatisfaction. The city’s mayor has dismissed the parents’ concerns as “unfounded.”
The plan will see some 80 asylum seekers currently living in rented housing transferred to the school center’s portable classrooms that are set to be converted into accommodation facilities sometime during the spring of 2024, the state broadcaster Westdeutscher Rundfunk reports.
Following a city council meeting last week where some 80 fathers and mothers came to voice their disapproval of the plan, Mayor Daniel Zimmerman, a member of the Peto—a local left-liberal party based in Monheim am Rhein that governs with an absolute majority—attempted to calm their concerns, saying that “the safety of our children is the primary goal; I personally guarantee that.”
During the council meeting, parents raised a variety of concerns, including worries about incidents such as sexual assault, rape, and other forms of abuse, as well as the potential for conflicts with traumatized refugees, which they worry could lead to undue stress on the young school children.
According to the city council’s spokesman, however, the city has yet to have any issues with asylum seekers since 2015. Although that may be true in Monheim am Rhein, nationwide crime statistics tell a different story. For example, German Police Crime statistics (PKS) revealed that while the number of German crime suspects increased by 4.6% in 2022 compared to the previous year, the number of non-German crime suspects saw an uptick of 22.6%.
The spokesman for the city council noted that over 80% of asylum seekers are presently housed in rented apartments, and that “we simply can’t keep up with renting anymore,” citing overly expensive costs, and sending a clear signal that the city is prioritizing their budget over the safety of children.
Furthermore, he added that at the moment, due to the continued influx of asylum seekers in the area, there are no additional urban areas available to accommodate refugees, and moving the containers elsewhere would be more costly. It’s worth noting that Monheim am Rhein is far from the only German city overwhelmed by the sustained influx of migration. Across Germany, various local leaders, even those from the left-liberal Green party, have stated they can’t cope with the crisis any longer.
Just last month, Uwe Brandl (CSU), the President of the German Association of Cities and Municipalities, an organization that represents the interests of 14,000 towns and municipalities, spoke out in favor of a more restrictive immigration policy, saying that Germany’s cities are at a breaking point. “Something has to finally be done. No longer in words, but in actions. Continuing like this will destroy the glue in our democratic society,” he said.
Although Mayor Zimmerman has voiced his intention to have another discussion with the concerned parents in the coming weeks, he has made it clear that the city’s decision to house the asylum seekers on the school’s premises would remain unchanged.
