Thousands of people live in Germany’s former Tegel Airport, which has been converted into a massive asylum accommodation. However, living conditions there are described as “catastrophic” despite taxpayers footing a bill that costs nearly a million euros every day and rates per tenant that rival four-star hotels.
The tent city there holds approximately 4,000 people, including 3,000 Ukrainian refugees and 800 asylum seekers from various other countries. It was supposed to be a reception center but many people have been living in emergency accommodations for years.
Now, the Federal Audit Office is criticizing the State Office for Refugee Affairs (LAF) for its management of the accommodation, which is the largest and most expensive in the country. In 2023, it cost €298 million, amounting to more than 800,000 per day. An enormous €90 million of that sum was spent on security, which involves between 230 and 300 security guards per shift. That is one-third of all the money spent on housing migrants in the facility.
