Cologne anger over garbage chaos: city abandons refugee accommodation!

Cologne anger over garbage chaos: city abandons refugee accommodation!

A reader reporter from Cologne-Kalk has had enough of the untenable garbage situation on Thessaloniki-Allee. Frank Freundebacher expresses his frustration with the city's ignorance in a report by Express. On this street, which is filled with rubbish, there is a refugee accommodation for asylum seekers with long-term residence rights. The residents simply put their rubbish on the street every day, which causes the surrounding area to deteriorate more and more.

“I won’t carry the stuff away,” is the clear message from the property’s caretaker, who doesn’t feel responsible for waste disposal. The whole thing becomes even more frustrating: The Housing Office apparently remains silent and ignores all of Freundebacher's emails. On one of the walls in the stairwell there is just a note in German that informs about bulky waste deadlines - and that's about it for information about correct waste disposal.

Demands for better information

Freundebacher has suggestions on how the situation could be improved: He advocates a farm behind the accommodation and more information in different languages. “The city of Cologne is 100 percent responsible for this dilemma,” he is convinced and describes the street as a permanent open-air garbage dump where new garbage is dumped every day.

But it's not just garbage that is a hot topic - movements around the refugee accommodation in Cologne are also restricted. According to the Cologne Red Cross, also from drk-koeln.de cited, there is a security service that controls access to the accommodation 24 hours a day to protect residents. Direct donations are not possible here and instead, donations in kind are accepted and sorted centrally at the Cologne Red Cross office.

• Gesuchte Spenden:
  • Gebrauchsfähige, saisonale Kleidung und Unterwäsche
  • Socken und Schuhe
  • Handtücher und Bettwäsche
  • Waschbare Decken
  • Koffer und Reisetaschen
  • Intaktes Spielzeug (Bobby Cars, Tretroller)
  • Kinderwagen, Buggys, Kindersitze
• Nicht gewünschte Spenden:
  • Bücher, Puzzle, Gesellschaftsspiele
  • Hausrat, Möbel, Elektrogeräte

Support offer for refugees

The Cologne Red Cross appeals to citizens to provide support and to adhere to the established rules. For further donation offers, the service telephone can be contacted so that everyone can help where it is needed. Details and other support offers in Cologne can be found at stadt-koeln.de be read.

The challenges in the city are diverse, but there are ways in which citizens can actively contribute to improving the situation. Whether through voluntary work or through targeted donations – it is up to all of us to take responsibility.