My family is vulnerable, how can we move to an apartment

Question

Hello
Its really hard for my family to live in a GU, as workers here just keep putting us in rooms with adult men (I am a girl, my mom is single and I only have a little brother) that keep staring at us and do nothing about it. I read on the internet that particularly vulnerable refugees, for example, single parents, mentally ill people etc. are eligible to move into an apartment after 1 year. (I also have a history of depression and severe anxiety) How can we apply for this? Its really creepy, I was followed around by one of the men living in the GU today. I dont know what to do. Please guide me. Im really sick of living here. Before anyone asks, workers here do nothing about it and say that its just the way things are.
Note: our asylum cases are still pending

Answer 1

Hi @maribel999

There is no rule that I am aware of that states vulnerable people are only eligible to move after a year in a GU. Vulnerable people have to be given the required protection they need from the first day they are in a GU. If this protection cannot be guaranteed, then such a person has to be housed in an apartment.

For example, unaccompanied minor children are not allowed to stay in a GU as it is clear they require extra protection and safer accommodation. They are provided with specialised housing with other unaccompanied minors.

For all other cases, it is the authorities who decide whether a person is sufficiently vulnerable to require then to be housed separately.

The legal text that requires EU countries to have certain standards when housing asylum seekers is the EU’s Reception Directive. Article 21 lists certain cases to be considered as vulnerable and includes minor children and single parents with minor children. Here you can read the legal text itself:

 https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/PDF/?uri=CELEX:32013L0033&from=EN

In Germany the law that applies this EU law for accommodation in GUs is section 53 of the law on asylum (Asylgesetz):

https://***-gesetze--im--internet-de.translate.goog/asylvfg_1992/__53.html?_x_tr_sl=de&_x_tr_tl=en&_x_tr_hl=en&_x_tr_pto=wapp

It refers to a different section of the law that requires each state in Germany to provide appropriate accommodation to women and vulnerable people and states that this requirement applies also in GUs.

I hope that is not too complicated but I wish to make it very clear that there are laws at EU, national and state level in Germany that require the authorities to act in order to protect vulnerable people. Despite what you have unfortunately been told by staff, such conditions you describe are not ‘just the way things are.’

I recommend you apply in writing to the part of the Sozialamt in charge of accommodation for asylum seekers and ask to be housed in an apartment.

This type of accommodation is called ‘dezentrale Unterbringung’. The apartments are coordinated by the Sozialamt of the area you are in. The apartments are often called ‘Gewährleistungswohnung’ or ‘Belegwohnung’.

You make an application (Antrag) to be housed in an apartment.

Here you can find an example of such an application:

https://***.fluechtlingsrat-lsa.de/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/2017-01-18-Antrag_Unterbringung-in-einer-Wohnung.doc

That example is written a bit more generally, if you use it you should adapt it to make it clear that this is a case of a vulnerable family and refer to the legal basis I mentioned.

But you do not have to use any particular form. Important is to provide your names, dates of birth and address. You should provide as much detail as you can about the situation in the GU:

• How long have you been living there?
• Have you been moved within the GU?
• What is your room like?
• Who have you had to share a room with (not their personal details, just whether they are other families, men, women etc.)?
• How are you given privacy in the room and also in any washing facilities?
• Have the people who run the GU made any improvements or offered any alternative better accommodation within the GU?
• What incidents have taken place where you and your family felt unsafe?

If you wish, you can also mention your medical history but it would be best to do this if you can provide some documentation as proof.

As it is an urgent situation, you should set them a deadline to respond. If they reject your application, you can appeal and also take further legal action.

If the staff in the GU are unwilling to assist you with the application, you can request assistance from a migrant advice service. Here you can search for one in your area:

https://bamf-navi.bamf.de/en/Themen/Migrationsberatung/

I hope that makes things a bit clearer. Let me know if you have further questions.

Best,

Éanna

Comments

Thank you. I just told my mom about this. One thing I have to mention is that, how long of a deadline should we give them? For example, would requiring them to answer until the 10th of the next month be appropriate?
We have been moved from another GU to here but things are not really different here. Can I include that information too? Thanks

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Hey @mbeon-Eanna , it has been months since then, the situation has not changed and i have tried to find other ways to lift the residence requirement (my mom cant take a job as she is doing an integrationskurs and i am doing an fsj as a vorpraktikum for an ausbildung) because when i emailed sozialamt about this explaining the situation the response i got was something along the lines of "what do you want us to do? to move out of there you have to take up employment or wait 24 months. we cant and wont do anything. we dont care about the issues you deal with, please talk with your sozialberaterin" ... meanwhile the family we are placed with have two adult men who keep harassing us. the dad of the family harassed my mom in the kitchen because she shut down the window and it made a noise, she said she didnt mean it and tried to apologize but that guy called the police on us because i told them i will call the security. when the police arrived they thought we were at fault first until i explained the situation and showed them the food we were cooking. i told them it was rude for both the men next door to yell at a woman who is practically a stranger to him and try to hit her and to call the cops on her while also being an abusive weirdo. the police apologized and said "maybe they dont respect women because of their culture" which got me really upset. thats no excuse for such behavior. i told the police that his culture is not my business and he is living in germany, which they agreed to and went to speak with him. this is the same kind of mentality the sozialamt has, the sozialberaterin has and also the police has apparently. we had to flee here because we had a visa issued here, not because we picked germany prior to this. if i cant do anything about it i want the whole world to know that the entire system is misogynistic, yes even the female workers who are supposed to be helping. do you know what they are saying? "you are a family and they are also a family if you are not getting along its an issue you both have. so you have clearly started this." how long do we have to wait? until something bad happens to us? Yes i know the laws you sent me do indeed exist, but no one cares really. what am i supposed to do when the relevant authorities dont care enough to do anything? i dont think i can even sue the sozialamt or lawyer up, because then what? i will be told the same things. i know that