German Labor Minister: Cash Aid to Refugees Should Be Increased
Hubertus Heil, Germany’s labor minister, has proposed a plan to increase cash financial aid to refugees. Germany’s united Christian parties have opposed this plan. If approved by the German parliament, this plan will be implemented from next year.
Hubertus Heil, Germany’s labor minister and a member of the country’s Social Democratic Party, has proposed a plan to increase cash financial aid to refugees in the country.
According to a report from Sunday, March 10, by the newspaper “Bild,” in his plan, the German labor minister has requested that the pocket money for refugees living alone or without family members in Germany be increased from 135 euros to 150 euros per month.
In Hubertus Heil’s plan, it is also stated that cash financial aid to young refugees aged 14 to 17 should be increased from 76 euros to 79 euros, and children and adolescents aged 6 to 13 should receive 97 euros instead of 83 euros. Additionally, children under 6 years old should receive 84 euros in cash aid instead of 79 euros.
Since 2016, the amount of cash financial aid to refugees has not been adjusted in line with the general increase in costs in Germany. In the new program of the Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs in Berlin, it is stated that cash aid to refugees should be adjusted annually according to rising costs in the country, similar to other financial aid to the poor and those dependent on government financial assistance in Germany.
The basis for the annual adjustment of costs and income is based on samples that the Federal Statistical Office of Germany prepares annually regarding the income and consumption costs of consumers. The last time cash aid was increased was three years ago. After that, a plan presented during the previous election period was rejected in the Bundestag, Germany’s parliament.
Opposition of United Christian Parties to Increasing Cash Aid
According to a report by the newspaper “Bild am Sonntag,” Torsten Frey, deputy head of the parliamentary faction of the United Christian Democratic and Christian Social parties in Germany’s parliament, criticized the German labor minister’s program to increase cash aid to refugees.
Frey said: “By increasing cash aid to refugees, we are sending wrong messages and signals to the countries of origin of these refugees.”
The German politician also said: “Currently, Germany pays more social benefits to asylum seekers than all other European countries. This will increase the motivation to submit asylum applications in Germany, and we should use the available opportunities to reduce it.”
Frey called for a significant reduction in cash aid to refugees who initially submitted asylum requests from another European country. He said: “For cases related to the Dublin Agreement, in the future, nothing other than a return ticket should be provided.”
The refugee registration system upon entry to the European Union in the first country is known as the “Dublin Agreement.” According to this agreement, the country responsible for processing an asylum claim is the one that the applicant first entered and where they were registered. If a refugee is first fingerprinted in one European Union country and moves to another country, the second country can, based on the Dublin Agreement, return them to the first country.
The draft plan to increase cash aid to refugees must also reach agreement with other ministries in Germany. If the parliament approves this plan, it will be implemented from 2020.
Source: DW
