“Rhetorical Escalation”
Greens criticize FDP stance on migration
October 29, 2023, 4:30 p.m
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The FDP ministers Lindner and Buschmann are calling for a “new real migration policy”. This should include cuts in social benefits and entry restrictions. The Green politician Audretsch finds these demands dangerous – and suggests other solutions.
The Greens are warning the FDP against further aggravating the tone in the migration debate. “We are currently experiencing a race of rhetorical escalation from different directions,” said Bundestag faction deputy Andreas Audretsch to the Berlin “Tagesspiegel.” “That doesn’t help.” It’s about “solving problems pragmatically instead of polarizing.”
The background is a joint guest article by Federal Finance Minister Christian Lindner and Justice Minister Marco Buschmann in “Welt am Sonntag”. The two FDP ministers are calling for a reduction in social benefits for refugees and even consider a reduction in benefits “to virtually ‘zero'” to be conceivable “under particularly strict conditions.”
They suggest this for people “who are entitled to humanitarian protection in the EU state responsible for them under the Dublin rules, but who refuse to take advantage of the protection there.” In these cases, it would be conceivable to “reduce the benefit to reimbursement of the necessary travel costs to the responsible state,” write the ministers. In this context, they refer to social law, according to which “sanctions are permissible if reasonable cooperative actions aimed at improving one’s own situation are omitted.”
The Green politician Audretsch is instead calling for more money for municipalities to invest in good infrastructure, education, daycare centers and housing. “Work bans for refugees must be lifted,” he emphasized. “This helps companies that are desperately looking for workers and provides income for the public coffers.” In addition, “good migration agreements” are needed so that people do not have to make the “deadly flight across the Mediterranean” in the first place.