The "Safe Harbors Cities"/"Städte Sicherer Häfen" Alliance was founded on June 14, 2019 as part of a Safe Harbors Congress organized by the Seebrücke initiative with the signing of the Potsdam Declaration. The state capital Potsdam coordinates the alliance. It currently consists of 120 members, including cities, municipalities and districts from across Germany.

The “Cities of Safe Harbors” alliance networks its members who show solidarity with the Seebrücke initiative and civil sea rescue in the Mediterranean. It combines the willingness to additionally accept those seeking protection who have been rescued from distress at sea and/or stranded in overcrowded reception centers without being counted towards the quota for fulfilling the admission obligation and bundles common interests in order to give weight to the demands made against the federal government.

The alliance cities see themselves as a humanitarian community of values ​​with a high level of competence in the reception and integration of refugees and confirm their offer of support and additional reception to the federal government. On October 9, 2019, the Münster City Council decided to join the Potsdam Declaration based on a joint motion dated October 1, 2019 from the CDU parliamentary group, the SPD parliamentary group and the Bündnis 90/Die Grünen/GAL parliamentary group for an immediate resolution to become a member of the “Cities of Safe Harbors” alliance. The city of Münster had already previously advocated for the safe disembarkation of those rescued at sea and their reception.

The council emphasizes that it will make every effort for the additional refugees admitted, as well as for all people admitted, to ensure equal participation and integration into Münster's urban society.

The city of Münster also supports these humanitarian values ​​at an international level. On June 25, 2021, the International Alliance of Safe Harbors was founded as an initiative of European cities for the humane reception of refugees, which from a German perspective continues the work of the Alliance of Safe Harbors. The founding document, the Palermo Declaration, was signed by 33 European cities by July 29, 2021, including Münster.

By updating the Palermo Declaration, the main core demands should be highlighted again and the role of European municipalities as key actors in the implementation of a solidarity-based asylum policy and the successful implementation of distribution and integration processes should be highlighted, as well as a supportive policy should be called for.

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