Emergency Housing on Campus
TU Chemnitz makes the Sports Hall available as temporary housing for 250 asylum seekers on short notice - camp beds were set up with the help of the German Red Cross and TU employees
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Until midnight, volunteers from the German Red Cross and employees of the Central University Administration and University Communications Department of the TU set up 250 camp beds. Photo: Mario Steinebach
The Technische Universität Chemnitz is making the Sports Hall on Thüringer Weg available as an emergency shelter for approximately 250 asylum seekers. The sustained rainfall over the last few days has completely saturated the ground, effectively making it impossible to use the grounds of the Initial Reception Center on Adalbert-Stifter-Weg for the tents of the asylum seekers. Therefore, it is necessary to find alternative accommodations in the city. “We need to work fast, flexibly and unbureaucratically here, because this is an emergency situation,” said the Chancellor of the TU Chemnitz, Eberhard Alles. Because it is currently the lecture-free period, it is possible to use the University Sports Hall as housing, even when the existing structural deficiencies, ranging from the sanitary facilities to climatic conditions, make it suitable for such a use only to a limited extent.
The asylum seekers arrived at the campus in the night between the 18th and 19th of August. The Saxony State Headquarters is cooperating with the Regional Association of the German Red Cross to put together accommodations on short notice. To this end, the infrastructure of the camp, like sanitary, residential and refrigerated containers from the German Red Cross, will be relocated to the TU Sports Hall. In addition, new beds will be set up by the German Red Cross. The Volkssolidarität is delivering meals and a security company is on site. During the evening, support was also provided by employees of the Chemnitz branch of the state-owned enterprise Sächsisches Immobilien und Baumanagement as well as the Central University Administration of the TU Chemnitz, particularly the Facility and Technical Management Department, and the University Communications Department.
According to information from the Saxony State Headquarters, as many as 300 refugees come to Saxony per day, who need to be accommodated in emergency quarters.
Notice for the media: press inquiries regarding the emergency shelter on the TU Chemnitz campus will be answered by the press office of the Saxony State Headquarters. Contact: 0371 532-1010, E-Mail presse@lds.sachsen.de
Notice for anyone who would like to provide personal assistance – as volunteer or in the form of material donations:
Material donations of any kind are gladly accepted (especially men`s clothing, pants, jackets, shoes, personal hygiene articles, etc.) in the clothing store of the Chemnitz German Red Cross, Alt-Chemnitzer Str. 26, Entry Lothringer Straße, 09120 Chemnitz. Open hours: MWF 9-14 & Tues 12-18, Thurs 12-17
Anyone who would like to become involved as a volunteer can receive more information here: Landesverband Sachsen e.V., Bremer Str. 10d, 01067 Dresden, Telephone 0351 4678-0, http://www.drksachsen.de, E-Mail info@drksachsen.de
(Author: Mario Steinebach, Translation: Sarah Wilson)
Katharina Thehos
19.08.2015
