German cities accuse government of failing to help with wave of gipsy migration

[Windsorhai]

German cities accuse government of failing to help with wave of gipsy migration

German cities have accused the federal government of failing to help them deal with a wave of gipsy migration from Bulgaria and Romania that is stretching their resources to the limit.

Roma people washing windscreens in Berlin in 2011 Photo: GETTY IMAGES

By Matthew Day
4:13PM BST 01 Oct 2013

After a series of meetings between the German Association of Cities and the government, Detlef Scheele from Hamburg said the state “had given up on its responsibility and left the cities to deal with the problem themselves.”

The association, which represents all of Germany’s major cities, said in a report “municipalities face significant costs owing to poverty migration” with the health, education and housing services feeling the most pressure.

Hannover has resorted to housing gipsies – or Roma – in a gym because “existing accommodation is almost full” according to Alexis Demos, the city spokesman. The city of Dortmund estimates each migrant costs the city £208 a month.

Germany’s cities want federal assistance to help them cope with the additional costs the migrants bring.

The cry for help comes amid growing concerns across Western Europe of the possible effects of Roma migration from the EU’s impoverished south-eastern corner. Thousands have already left their home countries, and some fear these numbers could surge at the beginning of 2014 when all restrictions limiting Bulgarian and Romanian access to European labour markets end.

Late last month Manuel Valls, France’s interior minister, sparked controversy when he called for Roma camps in France to be dismantled and their residents returned to Bulgaria and Romania because of an apparent failure to integrate. Fears over widespread migration have also contributed to calls from France and Holland to delay Bulgaria and Romania’s accession to the Schengen zone.

Roma families check in at Lille's airport, in Lesquin, northern France, as they take part in a voluntary return to Romania (AFP)

Britain has also joined forces with Germany, Austria and Holland in a campaign for tighter restrictions on migrants’ access to welfare handouts and other state benefits. David Cameron said he wants to restrict migrants’ access to housing benefit, legal aid and the health service.

Just how many Roma will migrate remains moot, with estimates varying considerably and sometimes failing to distinguish between gipsies and ethnic Romanians and Bulgarians. But according to figures from Berlin this year there are an estimated 8,000 Romanians and 14,000 Bulgarians living in the German capital compared to just 1,800 and 3,000 in 2012.