Overview
- Interior Minister René Wilke announced a county-specific residence requirement for newly assigned asylum seekers with a prospect of stay, lasting up to three years and set to take effect at the end of March with discretion for work or training moves.
- Local foreigner authorities will implement the non-retroactive rule by directive, which aims to prevent concentrations of newcomers in cities such as Cottbus that officials say strain integration.
- Education officials told parents of repeatedly violent pupils in Cottbus to expect expulsions, and Mayor Tobias Schick said two children may be removed from their families in extreme cases, with temporary special learning groups planned from the next school year.
- The police school task force has opened 178 investigations since late June, including 25 tied to primary schools, and 18 of those have already been sent to the Cottbus public prosecutor.
- Investigators cited immediate home visits and formal warnings, sometimes with interpreters, as key tools, and a parent letter from Regine-Hildebrandt-Grundschule spotlighted assaults requiring treatment that spurred the current measures.