23/1/2017 'Berlin 

Airlift' Airport Becomes Emergency Refugee Shelter

EUROPE

'Berlin Airlift' Airport Becomes Emergency

Refugee Shelter
February 05, 2016 2:23 PM Henry Ridgwell

BERLIN — With its vast semicircular terminal, Tempelhof airport in

Germany — made famous during the Cold War — was said to be the largest
building in the world when it was built by the Nazis. Now, Berlin authorities
have brought it back into service.

Three-thousand refugees occupy four cavernous former aircraft hangars.

Simple boards have been erected to give some degree of privacy, and side
rooms have been converted to nurseries and dining halls.

"We are an emergency accommodation,” said Maria Kipp, a spokesperson

for Tamaja, the agency providing the refugee housing. “But what happens in
reality is that we have people who should already be in long-term
accommodations and should have way higher standards than we can actually
provide here.”

City authorities admit that the accommodation is far from ideal, but say the
numbers arriving in the city require urgent solutions.

The cramped conditions mean new migrants are submitted to strict health
screenings. Outside, VOA spoke to Hussein Alawayeh, who fled Damascus
last year with his wife and daughter.

He said they have been suffering in the German refugee camps for five
months, and are hoping to find something — anything — better than what
they have.

But Zahir Ahmed of Pakistan praised the staff.

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“The atmosphere here is very nice,” Ahmed said. “People are showing
respect and care.”

Airport’s origins, controversy

Tempelhof was a lifeline for West Berlin when the Soviet Union blockaded
the city at the beginning of the Cold War, and American aircraft flew daily
sorties to bring in supplies.

The airport was closed in 2008, triggering a battle over its future.

Berlin city officials recently voted to extend emergency housing onto the
vast airfield in front of the airport; but, just two years ago in a referendum,
Berlin residents voted against any development.

Others disagree with that vote.

Georg Classen of the Berlin Refugee Advisory Board wants to see money
spent on proper apartments for the refugees, instead of on “these shabby
shelters."

And so what began as a powerful symbol of the Cold War has become a
battleground for rival visions of how to solve Berlin's migrant crisis.

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