The German city of Cologne will refrain from divulging the location of new asylum accommodation until the final stages of its construction due to the discontent felt by locals who then attempt to thwart the process.
The city government’s Head of Social Affairs Harald Rau revealed that the area was under pressure to accommodate greater numbers of migrants, needed to expedite new housing initiatives, and simply couldn’t afford for local residents to hold up their development.
“We will not provide information about every item under review. We can only name the property at a more advanced stage and cannot respond to all of the usual objections to the construction of new accommodation,” Rau told journalists.
It means that homeowners could find themselves living next door to an asylum reception center and be too late to contest the decision taken behind closed doors by city councilors.
“We have found that if we announce very early on which accommodations for refugees are being examined, we trigger a dynamic that is not good for anyone,” Rau explained.
This dynamic, in layman’s terms, is local residents rejecting the plans amid a continuous influx of new arrivals to the city — up to 200 migrants are reaching Cologne every week and public services are saturated.
Rau recounted a recent experience with a project in the affluent Neumarkt district of the city being struck down by residents. “Unfortunately, the debate gained public momentum that led to the failure of the project,” he explained.
For the foreseeable future, the public will not be consulted on initiatives involving short-term accommodation for migrants, but political committees will still have the ability to contest long-term projects.
“The need is currently so great that we have to create places where possible,” Rau added.
The shortage of asylum accommodation is an issue being experienced all across Germany. Last month, outraged parents condemned a local mayor’s decision to accommodate up to 80 asylum seekers in containers on the grounds of a primary school in the German town of Monheim am Rhein.