Falkensee. The containers on Spandauer Strasse in Falkensee, right next to the Shell gas station, are still uninhabited. Accommodation for refugees has been built there since February 2024. The first residents were originally supposed to move in on July 1, 2024 (MAZ reported). This date has since been postponed to the fourth quarter of 2024.
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This week, news circulated in a regional Facebook group for Brieselang and Falkensee that the facility’s capacity, “already increased two or three times,” would now be 1,200 people. The facility will officially open in October, it said.
The refugee accommodation, which houses two-person units and communal rooms in containers, is finished except for remaining work on the outside area and the access road.
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However, the capacity has not been increased. This is what Martin Kujawa, press spokesman for the Havelland district, which runs the facility, told the MAZ. “Nothing has changed in this regard,” Kujawa makes clear.
“Nothing can change that because the capacity simply doesn’t allow it.”
Martin Kujawa
Havelland district spokesman on shared accommodation in Falkensee
The maximum capacity is 400 people, for structural reasons alone. “Nothing can change that, because the capacity does not allow for that. It will definitely not be increased,” stresses Kujawa.
The plan is to accommodate 350 to 370 refugees. District Administrator Roger Lewandowski (CDU) has said this several times in recent months. These numbers were also mentioned at the residents’ information events in January 2024.
The MAZ asked the author of the Facebook post, who did not want to give his name. However, he was unable to provide any reliable facts or reasons why not 400 but 1200 refugees are to be housed in the new Falkensee refugee center, nor a source for this claim. “My sources are people who have lived there for over 30 years and are at the source, are politically active and are constantly informed.”
Havelland will take in around 350 refugees in the first half of 2024
The claim is also questionable due to the fact that the need for accommodation for refugees has actually decreased in recent months. According to the state government, this is partly due to the introduction of border controls (MAZ reported in December 2023). This caused the number of new arrivals to fall drastically in some cases.
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In the spring, District Administrator Roger Lewandowski (CDU) expected around 900 refugees for 2024, compared to 1,142 in 2023. By the middle of the year, almost 350 refugees had been assigned to Havelland.
Opening of the shared accommodation in Falkensee in the fourth quarter of 2024
The exact date on which the first refugees will be housed on Spandauer Strasse in Falkensee is still open. The district is currently in the process of voting on this. The only thing that is certain is that the facility will open in the fourth quarter of 2024. An “open day” is planned beforehand at the facility.
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The area on which the facility is located is leased until December 31, 2027. According to the contract, the lease could be extended once, up to December 31, 2030 at the latest. After that, the district is obliged to dismantle the building.
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The total cost of building the accommodation is around 5.6 million euros. Of this, around 4.4 million euros are for renting the containers, around 923,000 euros for building the facility and a further 340,000 euros for the necessary connections such as water, sewage and electricity. In addition, there are the costs for the operator.
The district is the cost bearer, thereby assuming a state task. The state of Brandenburg is obliged to reimburse the costs. The district therefore receives lump sums from the state, including for accommodation (rent, operation), social benefits, security guards and social care.
MAZ
