Shelters for migrants are filling up across Germany as attitudes toward the newcomers harden

By KIRSTEN GRIESHABER
Associated Press

BERLIN (AP) — Officials across Germany are sounding the alarm that they are no longer able to accommodate migrants who are applying for asylum. More than 220,000 people have applied for asylum in the country so far this year. That number is a far cry from the more than 1 million people who arrived in 2015-16. But it comes at a time when Germany has also given shelter to more than 1 million Ukrainian war refugees. Asylum shelters are full in Berlin and in other cities in Germany. Churches and gyms are being turned into shelters to make space for the newcomers. Many Germans are worn out by the pandemic, rising energy prices and inflation and have hardened their stance toward migrants.