Judgment - Green greet Hamburgjudgment on credit card
The Green Party's leading candidate in Brandenburg, Antje Toepper, welcomed the ruling of the Hamburg Social Court on the refugee payment card. "Access to cash must be sufficient and should not limit the self-determination of refugees," she stated. "We have previously warned that a flat cash limit of €50 for adults and €25 for children per month may not be legally secure."
Social Court Hamburg criticizes rigid limits
The Hamburg Social Court ruled that rigid cash limits on the payment card were not suitable for covering additional needs, such as those of pregnant women or families with young children. The responsible social authority must take into account the personal living circumstances of the applicants. Rigid limits would not allow for this, according to a court spokeswoman. The payment card itself is not criticized by the court.
"Payment cards are only a good solution for us if they are non-discriminatory and relieve the administration, thus reducing bureaucracy," said Toepper. "Woidke's proposal for a €50 limit is and remains populism and lacks any factual basis," criticized the Green politician Toepper of the SPD Minister-President, Dietmar Woidke. "Rigid cash limits do not keep anyone from fleeing war and violence in their home country. Instead, we should invest better in effective integration offers."
Family demanded more cash
The applicant in the urgent proceedings was a refugee family with a child born in 2022, who were expecting their second child this year. They demanded more cash or the payment of additional needs into another account. The family currently receives a cash amount of €110. The court granted them a cash requirement of €270.
Asylseekers receive part of the state benefits as a balance on the payment card instead of cash. This is intended to prevent migrants from transferring money to smugglers or family and friends abroad.
- Antje Toepper, the Green Party's leading candidate in Brandenburg, agreed with the Hamburg Social Court's critique of rigid cash limits, emphasizing that these limits should not limit the self-determination of refugees.
- The State parliament in Potsdam, Brandenburg's capital, should consider the court's ruling when discussing the financing of refugee support, as rigid limits may not adequately cover additional needs of refugees, such as pregnant women and families with young children.
- The ruling in Hamburg Social Court could have implications for similar cases in other German states, particularly in cities with large refugee populations, such as Hamburg and Berlin.
- The Social Court's ruling could potentially impact the lives of hundreds of thousands of children in Germany, who are among the refugee population, by ensuring they have access to sufficient finances to meet their needs and integrate better into society.
