Police warn of negative effects
Bundestag approves payment card for asylum seekers
April 12, 2024, 11:40 a.m
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In the future, refugees will receive part of the benefits they are entitled to as credit on a payment card and no longer as cash. The main aim of this is to prevent transfers abroad – and this is also intended to curb smuggling crime. However, a warning comes from the police union.
The Bundestag has decided on a nationwide legal basis for a payment card for refugees and asylum seekers. In the future, they should receive part of the state’s living expenses as credit and no longer as cash. Among other things, this is intended to prevent migrants from transferring money to smugglers or family and friends abroad. Parliament voted in favor with the majority of votes from the traffic light factions SPD, Greens and FDP, and the AfD and BSW also voted in favor. The CDU/CSU and the Left as well as a Green MP voted against it.
“The payment card can be used to pay for goods and services in everyday life, as well as groceries in the supermarket or a visit to the hairdresser or a ticket from a machine,” said Federal Interior Minister Nancy Faeser. “However, the possibility of withdrawing cash is limited, taking into account the individual case and the local circumstances. A crucial point for us is that transfers and cash transfers abroad are no longer possible.”
Federal Chancellor Olaf Scholz and the state prime ministers agreed on the introduction of the card on November 6th. The law now states that the service authorities can decide for themselves how much cash cardholders can withdraw within a certain period of time. This takes “individual needs and local circumstances” into account.
GdP: Pressure situation does not disappear with payment card
“The regulation also enables the benefit authorities, when exercising their discretion, to take into account circumstances due to which the use of a payment card does not appear appropriate in individual cases,” it continues. This could be the case, for example, if people receive their salary into their own checking account. Regulations were also adopted that are intended to facilitate the exchange of data between immigration and social authorities. “We avoid unnecessary effort and complications that arise, for example, when data on paper has to be recorded again digitally,” said Faeser.
The police union (GdP) warned against keeping the share of cash for refugees too low. Refugees are often under pressure to cover the medical costs of their families in their country of origin or owe money to smugglers. This pressure situation will not disappear with the payment card and could also affect the security of the remaining families in their home countries, explained GdP federal chairman Jochen Kopelke. “If moderation is not maintained here, there is a risk that refugees will try to get the money they need through criminal activities.” Those affected should not be pushed into crime.
The Greens did not consider a nationwide uniform regulation necessary. However, they agree with the regulation that has now been decided, as it is now guaranteed that no one will be forced out of society as a result, as deputy group leader Andreas Audretsch said. “Refugees who live in an apartment must be able to conclude an electricity contract, otherwise they will have no electricity. This was not clear in the regulations until now. Now we have regulated this completely clearly. Municipalities have to guarantee that.”
CDU MP: Payment card is not a panacea
FDP MP Stephan Thomae emphasized that with the card, asylum seekers no longer have to wait in line to receive money on the last working day of the month and no longer have to take large sums of money with them to shared accommodation. CDU MP Detlef Seif explained that the card was not a panacea, but could help ensure that fewer asylum seekers move on to Germany within Europe. His party colleague Kai Whittaker condemned the project as inadequate because cash payments were not limited to 50 euros per month as requested by the Union, and there was no priority for payment cards.
AfD representatives accused the traffic light coalition of having an overly liberal migration policy. For his party, the following applies: “Our money is for our citizens and not for the whole world,” explained AfD politician Steffen Janich. BSW politician Alexander Ulrich said that the payment card does not solve the big problem of irregular migration, but is a way to make it better. The left-wing MP Clara Bünger, on the other hand, criticized the “disenfranchisement of refugees” and said that legal certainty was being lost.