“This relieves the burden on municipalities”
SPD leader demands work permits for refugees
October 7, 2023, 3:35 a.m
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While many federal states and municipalities are calling for a limit on migration, the SPD leader is proposing to speed up work permits for refugees. Klingbeil believes that this will bring relief to the authorities and communities.
The co-chair of the SPD, Lars Klingbeil, has spoken out in favor of faster access for refugees to the labor market in Germany. “Work is a crucial factor for integration. That’s why I’m in favor of bringing people who have fled to us and can stay here onto the job market more quickly,” said Klingbeil to the “Rheinische Post”.
“We have an enormous shortage of workers in Germany. And on the other hand, there are many people who are here but are not allowed to work for far too long. We have to quickly remove hurdles here,” said Klingbeil. “This relieves the burden on authorities and municipalities if people can support themselves.” And it also strengthens social cohesion.
Brandenburg’s Interior Minister is putting pressure on Scholz
Brandenburg’s Interior Minister Michael Stübgen called for immediate action by the Chancellor in view of the increasingly limited reception capacity for asylum seekers in the states. “The Chancellor must make the migration crisis his sole top priority,” said the CDU politician to “Welt am Sonntag”. On this issue, SPD politician Olaf Scholz must “finally free himself from being held hostage by the Greens and parts of his own party.”
At a federal-state conference, several federal states recently announced that a large part of the facilities for asylum seekers were up to 100 percent full, reported the “Welt am Sonntag” with reference to the minutes of the meetings available to them. From the perspective of the countries, the situation is therefore “worrying”. Brandenburg is experiencing “first-hand the failure of the federal government, which recognized the seriousness of the situation far too late,” said Stübgen.
Tougher asylum policy: IAB warns against expectations that are too high
The migration expert Herbert Brücker warned the parties in the “Rheinische Post” against raising too high expectations of possible cuts for asylum seekers. “We know from surveys that people come to us primarily because of legal certainty, the prospect of a fair asylum procedure and respect for human rights,” said the researcher at the Federal Employment Agency’s Institute for Labor Market and Occupational Research (IAB). Depending on the survey, social benefits were only cited as one reason among many by a good 20 to almost 30 percent of refugees.
Most quantitative studies also show no statistically significant connection between the level of benefits and asylum migration, said Brücker. There is also “no evidence that access to health care influences migration behavior.” On the contrary, poorer medical care for asylum seekers would make it more difficult for them to integrate into the labor market.