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Tent Cities Test Germany’s Resolve to Support Swell of Refugees

A tent with camp beds is pictured at the central arrival centre for refugees in Munich, Germany. As the centre lacks capacities for arriving refugees, tents are being set up as a makeshift home.

A tent with camp beds is pictured at the central arrival centre for refugees in Munich, Germany. As the centre lacks capacities for arriving refugees, tents are being set up as a makeshift home.

Photographer: Sven Hoppe/AFP/Getty Images
Leon Mangasarian and Rainer Buergin

Germany is resorting to tent cities to house a flood of refugees led by Syrians fleeing civil war as soaring costs test the country’s willingness to accept newcomers.

The government expects the number of asylum seekers entering the country this year to more than double to 450,000. Caring for them will run as high as 6 billion euros ($6.6 billion), the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung newspaper reported this week, citing data collected from the interior ministries of Germany’s 16 states.