Before the prime ministers’ conference: countries demand more money from the federal government for Ukraine refugees

Before Prime Ministers Conference
Countries are demanding more money from the federal government for Ukraine refugees

Accommodation, health care, school and day-care centers – Ukraine refugees have to be cared for in many areas. Who pays for what and in what proportion is the subject of today’s federal-state talks. The states want to see more responsibility from the federal government.

Before the federal-state talks about the Ukraine refugees, the federal states and municipalities reaffirmed their demands for a fair distribution of costs. Thuringia’s Prime Minister Bodo Ramelow and Berlin’s Governing Mayor Franziska Giffey demanded that the federal government bear the full cost of housing the refugees. According to their ideas, the refugees should be cared for by the job centers and not by the social welfare office.

Ramelow told the newspapers of the editorial network Germany that the distribution of costs for the accommodation had to be clarified on Thursday. “Then you can change course in an orderly manner.” According to the left-wing politician, the costs for the refugees should be covered within the framework of the Social Security Code II (unemployment benefit II), for which the federal government is responsible.

Ramelow also called for the federal government to “take on more responsibility” when it comes to receiving, registering and distributing refugees. Registration is very time-consuming and, in the case of Ukrainians, only takes place when refugees stay longer in an initial reception center or otherwise receive state benefits.

Giffey: As in 2015, the federal government should pay in full

Giffey told the “Handelsblatt” that the federal government currently bears 75 percent of the integration costs for daycare and school as well as the costs of accommodation – but this is not enough. “We want the federal government to cover all of the costs, like in 2015.” According to the SPD politician, nobody was able to plan the costs like this. These are the effects of international conflicts. “Now you can’t just sit back and say: Then the cities are just unlucky. It can’t work like that.”

Giffey also wants the Ukraine refugees to no longer be cared for under the Asylum Seekers Benefits Act, but to receive basic security benefits. “The expectation is that the individual service will not be provided via the social welfare offices and the Asylum Seekers Benefits Act, but that the care will be processed via the job centers according to the Social Security Code II,” said Giffey. “This means that the refugees can get German courses and better integration into the labor market, and health care is guaranteed.”

Baden-Württemberg’s Minister President Winfried Kretschmann also asked for clarification of the question of who bears the costs for accommodation and care for the refugees from Ukraine with a view to the Minister Presidents’ Conference. “Some very central questions are still open and have yet to be decided,” said the Green politician to the editorial network Germany.

Also municipalities with demands

“The federal and state governments have agreed with the Chancellor not to leave the municipalities out in the rain. This announcement must now be followed by concrete action,” said Gerd Landsberg, general manager of the German Association of Cities and Municipalities (DStGB), the “Neue Osnabrücker Zeitung “.

An adequate lump sum per refugee and the financing of the considerable upfront costs are necessary. “It is also essential to ensure that arrivals are evenly distributed both between the federal states according to the Königstein key and within the federal states,” emphasized Landsberg.

It is known from individual surveys that municipalities “have already spent up to 2,900 euros per displaced person to install the necessary infrastructure for first aid”. This included the conversion of halls into community accommodation, security services, catering and psychological care. “The federal and state governments are required to ensure funding quickly, sustainably, adequately and permanently,” said Landsberg.

More than 300,000 refugees have arrived in Germany since the Russian attack on Ukraine began on February 24. The exact number is unknown because there is no registration requirement and no fixed border controls. The federal government assumes that the number of new arrivals from Ukraine will continue to rise.

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