Many elderly nursing home residents were left in tears after they were evicted to make room for migrants in Berlin. The case has received widespread media coverage and highlights a growing trend in Germany. Adding to the scandal is that the owners of the building and operators of the nursing home are Christian non-profit institutions that belong to the Berlin Diakonie.

The building, located on Müller Street, was meant to house elderly residents for at least another 10 years. Originally, “Wohnen & Pflege Schillerpark” in the Berlin district of Wedding bought the building to house 141 residents and signed a lease for 25 years. The nursing home was run by the Paul Gerhard Foundation starting in 2006 with an option to extend.

That plan has been terminated early, and instead, the building has shifted to housing refugees. The foundation running the nursing home informed 110 elderly residents they would have to leave, with half already moving out, and the other half slated to leave at the end of 2023

Focus wrote that it is far more lucrative to house migrants. This may have been a consideration, even for Christian organizations, which have budgets they must carefully watch and staff to pay. According to Focus online and other media sources, operators can earn far more money housing migrants than caring for elderly patients in Germany.

BZ media outlet spoke to the Paul Gerhardt Foundation, which claimed the conversion of the nursing home was not an economic decision. Instead, it stemmed from “the requests of the State Office for Refugees (LAF).” If true, it means the government also played an active role in forcing out the elderly residents to make room for migrants.

Originally Posted By JT11RTR⏩